The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday inducted 30 new mini garbage collection vans, also known as mini compactors, into its fleet of vehicles that are mainly used for picking and transporting garbage in Mumbai. This is the first time in 15 years that BMC has inducted new vehicles in his fleet of garbage compactors. Civic officials said overall, 800 new small, medium and large trucks and compactors will be added to the fleet in the next two years.
Mumbai generates 7,500-8,500 metric tonnes (MT) of solid waste daily and each of the new vehicles will have a capacity to carry 5MT of waste every day—twice the capacity of the mini compactors which will be replaced by the new vehicles. Civic officials said the new vehicles have been painted a unique blue and white colour and eventually all the new vehicles will be painted with the same colour. Currently, these vehicles have been deployed in all the 25 municipal wards and will be responsible for collection and transportation of waste from densely populated areas. Officials also said due to its compact size, the vehicles will be able to penetrate into the dingy lanes of slum areas, easing the process of garbage collection from such places.
“Earlier, even though there were compactors, we didn’t have any uniform colour code to identify them. This is the first time vehicles in BMC will follow a uniform colour code. Several municipal corporations in India have colour-coded vehicles that help in identifying as well as quick response,” said an official.
“These vehicles have twice the capacity to hold solid waste, which means it will bring down the total number of trips that a vehicle used to make every day by half margin, eventually resulting in less fuel usage and vehicular emission,” said the official. 1
The existing vehicular fleet in BMC comprises 1,300 trucks, divided into three categories: large compactors, mini compactors, and side-loading mini compactors. The new fleet will have lesser trucks, as the new vehicles will have a capacity to carry heavier, bigger payloads. According to civic officials, the new fleet will comprise 800 vehicles, including EVs. The brand-new large compactors will have a maximum carrying capacity of 18,500kg, while its predecessor had a maximum capacity of 16,200kg. Medium compactors will have a maximum capacity of 12,000kg instead of the earlier 9,000kg, while small compactors will have a maximum capacity of 4,950kg compared to its previous 2,700kg capacity. All the new compactors will be uniformly colour coded.
Earlier this year, the BMC floated a Rs 4,000 crore tender to acquire these vehicles and deploy them on the streets. Civic officials said the BMC has opted for a service-based contract with a maximum number of wards instead of a hiring model, which is cost-effective by 25 per cent. In a hiring model, the contractual agency would only supply the vehicles, while the responsibility of manpower would be with the BMC.
Furthermore, officials said the labourers who segregate and load waste into the compactors will be supplied by the contractual agency while the BMC-appointed workers will be responsible for cleaning and sweeping the roads as well as other works such as segregating solid waste and processing them.
