BMC’s green push: E-rickshaws collect garbage from slum areas

The idea to introduce the smaller e-rickshaws in slums was floated owing to the high density as well as the narrow lanes of the city’s slums which pose an obstacle for the bigger garbage collection vehicles while navigating the alleyways. Besides this, with the e-rickshaws being powered by batteries, it ensures no carbon emission, making them an eco-friendly as well as a less expensive alternative to the conventional engines.

According to the BMC, since the introduction of these vehicles, the process of garbage collection from door-to-door has become easier for them since they can easily access the narrow lanes now.

“These vehicles can access all locations, it has also become easier for the citizens to throw the waste. This has led to the reduction of the waste dumped in the roads,” said the civic body.

While the pilot run was carried out in the densely populated slum pockets of M/East Ward, officials have said that more e-auto rickshaws will take over the pockets of the D/ward, which consists of Grant Road, Malabar Hill and Breach Candy among other locations.

Going forward, the civic body is eyeing to introduce e-auto rickshaws across all slum pockets of the city and will soon float a tender to purchase more vehicles.

For the record, according to officials,  of the 6,300 metric tonnes of waste generated in the city, slum pockets account for nearly 2,500 metric tonnes of waste.

Last week, the civic body had also floated a tender worth Rs. 1,500 crores  to appoint a singular agency tasked with all works related to cleanliness in the city’s slum pockets for four years.

Once in force, the agency will be incharge of all Solid Waste Management related tasks ranging from collection of garbage, segregation of waste, sweeping of passages, cleaning of toilets, drainage etc., within the slum pockets in the city, which, according to civic officials, are composed of over 15 lakh households.