BMC to install 20,000 bins across city

It is a common complaint that the city doesn’t have enough litter bins for people to dispose of waste like plastic wrappers and bus tickets. But the civic body appears to be working towards a solution.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun the procedure to procure 20,000 litter bins that are to be installed at different locations in the city.

The BMC’s last attempt to install bins was in 2006, but was unsuccessful after the bins were stolen soon after they were placed across the city.

This week, the civic body invited firms to submit bids for contracts to supply and install litter bins in the city. However, for the past eight months, nothing has been done about the budgetary provision that was made for the purpose in March by then municipal commissioner, Subodh Kumar.

Further, the cost and design for the bins are have not been finalised either. An approval from the civic standing committee on the proposal can be sought only after the cost is decided. This means that citizens will have to wait for at least three more months before the bins are installed.

“We made number of considerations to ensure that there are no cases of theft this time around once the bins are installed. Also, despite the chance that some bins might be stolen, we cannot hold back on resuming the plan of installing litter bins,” said Shekhar Chitale, chief engineer, department of solid waste management. “Therefore, we are going to make sure that the material with which these bins would be made will not have any resale value,” added Chitale.

“At many of the roads and market places, only a pole remains, indicating that the bins that were mounted there were subsequently stolen,” said an official from BMC’s solid waste management.

Another hurdle that could delay the plan is the identification of locations for these bins, a task that has been assigned to all the 24 local ward offices.

“At present, around 500 locations have been identified. Many of the ward offices are yet to submit the locations,” said the official.