BMC comes up with specialised cell to ensure Mumbai is garbage-free

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has finally got its 'clean-up' act together with a specialised cell to ensure that the city is garbage-free.

The cell, which was launched a few days ago, has designated officers and dedicated phone-lines to resolve complaints related to unattended garbage, e-waste and overflowing drains.

While the control room will be responsible for bifurcation of the complaints, cleanliness squads established at every ward, headed by two supervisory level officers, will be responsible for gathering and coordinating with cleanliness-workers from respective departments.

On October 12, mid-day had reported about how the BMC had to go the whole hog to deal with garbage complaints, following the launch of the Swachata App for citizens. The mobile application introduced by the Centre, instructed all municipal corporations to resolve garbage-related complaints within 12 hours of its registration.

According to sources, in the current process, it was becoming difficult for the BMC to meet the deadline, as complaints have to be forwarded to different departments, before the staff can act on it. To put an end to the endless bureaucratic muddle, the civic body decided to start a new cell itself. "The dedicated 24/7 control room has made it possible to resolve complaints from 39 per cent to 79 per cent," said deputy commissioner Vijay Balamvar.

He added that resolving complaints related to garbage require coordination with different departments of the BMC. "It is because of the control room that we are able to manage quick coordination," Balamvar said.