Vehicles with 500-kg capacity to run in two shifts daily, easing traffic, cutting reliance on manual hauling in congested wards; if everything goes according to plan, the collection will begin next month
The e-autos that will be used for garbage collection
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to deploy e-auto rickshaws for waste collection in the narrow lanes of Fort, Colaba and Dharavi. If everything goes according to plan, the collection will begin next month.
The BMC plans to hire six e-auto rickshaws for a period of six months. The A Ward, which includes Fort and Colaba, will receive three e-autos, while the G North Ward—covering Dharavi, Mahim, and Dadar East—will get the remaining three.
“These vehicles will be used to collect waste from narrow lanes. Currently, waste is only collected from the main roads. Until now, workers had to manually carry waste from the narrow lanes to the main road. Now that vehicles can access the lanes directly, workers will no longer need to do that,” a civic official said.
The official added, “Each vehicle will have a capacity of 350 to 500 kg. They will operate in two shifts: from 6.30 am to 2.30 pm and from 2.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Around 40,000 to 50,000 residents of Dharavi and 10,000 to 20,000 residents of Colaba, Fort are expected to benefit from this initiative.”
At present, the BMC uses mini tempos to collect waste from narrow lanes. These tempos have a capacity of 1.5 tonnes. However, officials noted that despite being smaller vehicles, they still struggle to navigate very narrow lanes. “If we try to take a mini tempo into such lanes, it creates traffic congestion. Also, we are following the state government’s policy of using electric vehicles wherever feasible,” said the official. The cost of the project has not yet been finalised. “We will invite tenders for shift-based operations,” the official stated.
The BMC has also decided to clean roads twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening. It has proposed a new solid waste compactor to transport the waste more efficiently. Although the BMC has adopted the electric vehicle policy, it will still use diesel-run compactors. “These compactors have a seven tonne capacity. Electric vehicles of this size are not currently available. So we don’t have an option. But we are using electric vehicles wherever possible,” the official added.
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