RFID tags scanning for waste collection begins

Officials said households in DLF Phase 4, South City-2, sectors 27, 43, 45, 48, 49,50 and Sector 15 Part 2, Shivaji Nagar and Om Nagar have been fixed with chip embedded RIFD tags that contain an integrated circuit and antenna to transmit data to the RFID reader

Starting Friday, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has started scanning 175,000-odd radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags installed outside houses to ensure regular door-to-door waste collection.

RFID tags scanning for waste collection begins

MCG has appointed a private firm, which has set up a command centre in Sector 39 to ensure that the waste is collected daily from areas under the civic body.

Officials said households in DLF Phase 4, South City-2, sectors 27, 43, 45, 48, 49,50 and Sector 15 Part 2, Shivaji Nagar and Om Nagar have been fixed with chip embedded RIFD tags that contain an integrated circuit and antenna to transmit data to the RFID reader. The workers of Ecogreen Energy, the concessionaire collection agency of the MCG, will visit the residential colonies and collect garbage only after scanning the RIFD tags.

Naresh Kumar, joint commissioner of MCG, said scanning RFID cards, details such as the date and time of collection of waste would be sent to MCG’s control room, and real-time garbage collection monitoring could be done.

“This will also be beneficial to ensure that garbage collectors do not hand over waste to a third party, or dump it at vacant areas. MCG will have records on the collection,” he said.

Another benefit of RFID tags is that the MCG can quickly dispatch a garbage collector to households if a designated collector fails to turn up on a particular day. Kumar said the control room at MCG’s Sector 39 office will be run by the IT company who has installed these tags,” he said.

“At least 1.75 lakh [175,000] tags have already been installed. These houses have been selected according to the tax data of the municipal corporation. All houses falling under the corporation will have these RFID tags,” he said.

Explaining the process, MCG officials said the driver or helper on the garbage truck will scan the RFID tags with the reader that they will carry with them. “As soon as it is scanned, the information will reach the control room. We will also be able to know whether the garbage has been picked up from the house or not and also whether the garbage collection was done in a segregated manner,” said PC Meena, MCG commissioner.

Meena said the process will not only help track garbage collection, but also the vehicles that are working properly lifting waste from the city. “Apart from installation of tags, maintenance will also be done for the next three years by the IT company hired by the department, and the firm will also replace or install RFID tags as needed,” he said.

Suvendu Samantaray, general manager, operations, Gurugram of Ecogreen Energy, said they have trained their drivers and waste collection staff on reading RFID tags correctly. “There are some challenges if the house is locked or if residents are not handing over segregate waste.IN siuch instances, the information is sent to the control room. This will also help reducing contact with residents, which otherwise could lead to confrontations,” he said.