Ghaziabad to rope in e-vehicles for waste collection

In order to reduce the dependency on diesel fuel and also cut down operational cost, the Ghaziabad municipal corporation has embarked on a pilot project of roping in e-vehicles for door-to-door collection of solid waste, that will be implemented in wards of the Vasundhara zone within a month

In order to reduce the dependency on diesel fuel and also cut down operational cost, the Ghaziabad municipal corporation has embarked on a pilot project of roping in e-vehicles for door-to-door collection of solid waste, that will be implemented in wards of the Vasundhara zone within a month.

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Currently, the city generates about 850 metric tonnes of solid waste daily, which is collected and transported by 579 vehicles, a majority of which run on diesel.The city has 100 residential wards, from where waste is collected from every household on a daily basis.

“We have been directed to carry out a pilot project, as part of which we will hire an agency that will bring in e-vehicles for door-to-door waste collection. We have decided that the project will be rolled out in wards of the Vasundhara zone. Currently, we spend around ₹40 crore annually for the operation of the diesel vehicles. We will soon float a request for proposal to select an agency,” said municipal commissioner M S Tanwar.

The Vasundhara zone comprise residential areas of Vasundhara, Indirapuram, Vaishali and Kaushambi, among other residential localities.

The officials said the selected agency will bring in e-vehicles, deploy their own drivers to run the vehicles and chalk out the route for collection and transportation of solid waste. besides managing the work through a control room.

“This model is expected to cut down our cost by almost half and do away with our dependency on diesel, which is a polluting fuel. We have also got the funds sanctioned from the 15th Finance Commission and an escrow account will also be created. We have been directed by the state administration to start the pilot project with 100 e-vehicles. Later, the project can be rolled out in the four other corporation zones,” said Tanwar adding with the help of the initiative, he plans to make the corporation as the first agency to operate fully on e-vehicles.

Ghaziabad is one of the 16 non-attainment cities in Uttar Pradesh having high levels of air pollution. Cities are declared non-attainment if over a five-year period, they consistently do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM 10 (particulate matter that is 10 microns or less in diameter) or NO2 (nitrogen dioxide)

Officials said the decision has been taken to cut down the ‘leakages’ in the operation of the 579 vehicles. In order to cut down its mammoth consumption of diesel, the corporation got GPS devices installed in waste collection vehicles, that has helped bring down the usage of fuel.

Officials familiar with the development said the monthly fuel consumption in January, February and March was 4.17 lakh litres, 3.58 lakh litres and 3.73 lakh litres, respectively, which dropped to 2.81 lakh litres, 2.87 lakh litres and 2.85 lakh litres in April, May and June, respectively.

Councillor Rajendra Tyagi said that ‘leakage’ in fuel usage has plagued the corporation for long. “The leakages have been plugged ever since the GPS devices were installed. However, the agency must change its working with changing times. Roping in e-vehicles will be nature friendly and also help reduce costs. There will be opposition when e-vehicles come in, but the project must proceed,” he added.

Environmentalists said e-vehicles will help reduce pollution and also pave way for bringing in more such vehicles in the city. “If a government agency is taking initiative, it will set an example for other departments too. It will also help the civic body comply with the legal directions regarding phasing out of diesel vehicles. The corporation should initiate the project as early as possible and introduce it in other zones too,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist and a lawyer.