Modern bins lying idle for months as Tiruchi Corporation is yet to acquire specialised vehicles

Undue delay in procuring specialised vehicles to lift and unload the modern bins has resulted in the non-utilisation of the bins installed near the Vazhakkai Mandi in Tiruchi for almost two years

Undue delay in procuring specialised vehicles to lift and unload the modern bins has resulted in the non-utilisation of the bins installed near the Vazhakkai Mandi in Tiruchi for almost two years.

Tiruchi Corporation had initiated the project in February 2021 to install around 175 bins across the city and procure five specialised waste collection vehicles for ₹14 crore under the Smart City Mission. A Bengaluru-based firm was roped in to supply the 175 bins and five trucks with cranes and bin-emptying mechanisms. However, due to a delay in providing the bins, the order was revised to 40 bins and two specialised trucks.

The bins are made of galvanised steel with built-in sensors to alert the workers that the bin was full. Over 40% of their structure is beneath the surface level. The lids remain closed, and the bins have foot-operated levers to open and close the lids.

In November 2022, 40 garbage bins were installed in the city under first phase. Of these, eight modern bins were placed outside the wholesale banana market and the rest were now kept at the Konakkarai and Alwarthoppu micro-compost centres.

While the bins were supplied, the firm did not supply the specialised trucks. Since the bins are heavy, they can be unloaded only using crane-mounted trucks, which will lift the bins from the surface to empty them. The non-availability of specialised vehicles has led to the failure of the project and the already installed modern bins had been sitting idle, occupying a sizeable portion of the stretch in front of the banana market.

Though the modern bins were placed two years ago, the bins remain unused and the waste produced by the market is indiscriminately dumped on the road, leading to shrinking motorable space.

According to a sanitary inspector, there were over 15 garbage vulnerable points around the market area and commissioning modern bins would help reduce such spots. “Garbage dumped on the road is being collected at regular intervals and the frequency of collection has been increased. On an average, around 10 trips are made every day to collect the waste in the area,” he said.