Chennai Corporation to procure 40 vehicles worth Rs 18 cr for waste management, street cleaning

CHENNAI: To improve waste management and interior street cleaning in the city, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) plans to procure 40 vehicles, including 30 CNG-operated Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) trucks and 10 battery-operated vehicles (BOV), for Rs 18 crore.

A total of 82 HMV trucks are available in the city to remove encroachments and serve other purposes. However, these trucks are now 12 years old.

A senior Corporation official said, “The tender was issued to procure 30 new CNG-operated trucks to replace the old ones for Rs 9.6 crore. These vehicles will be used for the removal of encroachments, silt from canals, fallen trees, and garden garbage in the conservancy-owned zones of the GCC.”

He also noted that 10 mechanical sweepers were deployed in the Tondiarpet, Anna Nagar, and Ambattur zones to clean the bus route roads.

The mechanical sweeper, a Light Motor Vehicle (LMV), is capable of sweeping roads, centre medians, and water table junctions. It can clear light to medium-sized debris of various types, including stones, sand, nails, bottles, leaves, sticks, paper, and cloth. “The proposed 10 battery-operated mechanical sweepers will be deployed at Rs 9 crore to clean interior roads in the Tondiarpet, Ambattur, and Anna Nagar zones. Three machines each will be used in the Tondiarpet and Ambattur zones, and four will be assigned to the Anna Nagar zone,” the official added.

P Srinivasulu, general secretary, Madras Corporation Red Flag Union, pointed out that after the privatisation of solid waste management (SWM) in the Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones in August, the GCC now handles SWM in 42 wards across the Tondiarpet, Ambattur, and Anna Nagar zones. “It’s necessary to replace the old vehicles, which are rarely maintained. The newly procured trucks must also be maintained properly,” he opined.

M Balagan, a resident of Anna Nagar, said, “The mechanical sweeping machines and suction sweepers are often seen on the main roads. Now, the small battery-operated sweepers have been added to the fleet, and yet, the roads fill with trash very quickly.”