Mangaluru: The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) is planning a data-driven overhaul of its solid waste management system, including ward-wise mapping of sanitation personnel, vehicles and their workload, to identify gaps and deploy resources based on demand.MCC commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey said the corporation, which has nearly 900 personnel, including pourakarmikas, drivers and loaders, currently lacks a precise, day-to-day mapping of their deployment.“We have almost 900 people working with the MCC. As commissioner, I do not know on a daily basis who goes where. They report daily, and health inspectors manage them. We are now planning to precisely map who has to do what work, where they need to go and what they need to clean,” Pandey said.Under the proposed system, the corporation will be able to identify the personnel assigned to a particular street or area and track the routes allocated to individual waste collection vehicles.“If I visit a location, I should know who has been assigned to clean that particular street, or which driver is scheduled to take this route. Perhaps in the next 20 to 25 days, we will get clarity. Once that is done, we can fix exact responsibilities for all the personnel we have,” he said.The MCC will simultaneously map its fleet and assess the quantum of service being provided by each vehicle. This will help the corporation identify areas where vehicles are inadequate, determine the extent of demand and prioritise resources, he said.“There are limits to how many places a vehicle can cover and how many houses it can collect waste from. We cannot procure all new vehicles at once, but at least we will know where the shortfall exists, where the demand is high and where the pressure lies. Based on that, we can prioritise those areas,” Pandey said.Pandey has also requested the state govt to bring back Madhu S Manohar, assistant executive engineer, from Kolar to Mangaluru to assist in streamlining the city’s waste management system.Nuisance detectors on cardsIn another move aimed at curbing garbage dumping in public places, the MCC is working on a framework to designate ‘Nuisance Detectors’. The designated personnel would be empowered to impose spot fines on those violating solid waste management rules. Solid waste management rules provide for the designation of such personnel, who can impose spot fines similar to those levied by traffic police.“So far, the city corporation has not implemented this. We can designate specific health inspectors or other officials and empower them to levy spot fines,” he said.The system would help address instances where people dump waste outside shops or other public places. Currently, even when violations are captured on camera and reported to the corporation, the process of issuing notices and conducting hearings can delay action.
