Patna: The Patna Municipal Corporation is set to overhaul its waste management system by engaging a private agency to handle door-to-door garbage collection and street cleaning across the city, instead of purchasing its own vehicles.
The integrated solid waste management system will cover all 75 wards and is expected to cost around Rs 555.32 crore over four years. The corporation has already floated a tender, with work expected to begin soon.
Under the proposed system, waste will be collected separately in four categories, including wet and dry waste, from households and commercial establishments.
Waste To Be Taken To Transfer Stations
The agency will collect waste from homes and shops and transport it to Garbage Transfer Stations (GTS) before taking it to designated processing facilities.
After segregation, waste will be transported to the dumping yard at Ramchak Bairiya, where a waste-to-energy plant is planned.
The agency’s responsibilities will extend beyond waste collection to include street cleaning across the city.
It will arrange manual sweeping of roads at night and provide equipment including e-rickshaws, handcarts and tractors for collection and cleaning operations.
The corporation has divided Patna into six zones, with manual road sweeping to be carried out across all of them.
Purchase Of 725 Vehicles Put On Hold
The corporation had earlier approved the purchase of 725 new vehicles to strengthen its sanitation operations. The procurement was subsequently halted after the department ordered implementation of the integrated solid waste management system.
At present, door-to-door collection is reportedly affected in around 40% of the city because of ageing and malfunctioning vehicles.
The 75 wards have been divided into five sectors each, with dedicated vehicles and teams assigned to individual sectors. According to the corporation, around two of the five sectors in most wards are currently affected by vehicle-related problems.
Officials said alternative vehicles are deployed whenever a breakdown is reported to ensure that collection services continue.
More Than Four Lakh Households And Establishments To Be Covered
The new system is expected to cover 404,509 households and establishments across Patna.
This includes 342,892 residential units, comprising houses, apartments and hostels, as well as 61,617 commercial establishments.
The corporation expects the integrated system to improve door-to-door collection and reduce the practice of dumping waste in the open.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Rajan Sinha said the new arrangement is expected to provide residents with better waste collection and sanitation services.
The corporation also hopes the changes will improve Patna’s sanitation performance, with a target of raising the city’s rating from five stars to seven stars.
