The IMC earns Rs 8 crore annually from the plants which convert waste into useful products such as bio-CNG, an official said.The corporation employs about 8,500 sanitary workers in three shifts from 6 am to 4 am -- 22 hours a day -- to keep the city clean.

“A new 550-tonne capacity bio-CNG plant is going to be commissioned soon, which will take the civic body’s annual earnings from waste treatment to Rs 10 crore,” said Asad Warsi, the IMC’s advisor for the Swachha Bharat Abhiyan. At present, the private companies which make bio-CNG, compost and other products by processing wet and dry waste pay about Rs 8 crore to the IMC every year, he told PTI.

“The city generates 300 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage water. Of this, 110 MLD water is reused to water public gardens, farms and also for construction activities,” Warsi said.

The cleanliness model of the city is based on 3 `R’s -- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.