Mumbai: 29 underground utilities coming in the way of city’s cleanliness

BMC at its wits’ end trying to find space for underground garbage bins owing to the presence of ubiquitous utility lines

The BMC’s plan to install community bins under roads has hit a roadblock. Due to the presence of underground utilities, the civic body has been struggling to find spots to carry out its experiment. BMC sources said the cost of each such bin is around Rs 10 lakh while that of a traditional one is below Rs 1 lakh. 

There are around 29 underground utilities in the city, including water pipelines, sewage lines, stormwater drains, power cables and optical fibres of private companies.

A BMC official said the underground community bins were to replace traditional ones. “But we are not finding a suitable place to install them as there are utilities under the streets,” the official said.

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Underground community bins 

“In a city like Mumbai, it does not seem appropriate to have community bins on the street. So we decided, wherever possible, to replace them. It seems impossible,” another official said.

“Still, we trying to find the place to install underground bins,” the official added.

There are around 1,500 traditional community bins on the city’s streets. On January 19, mid-day highlighted the pathetic condi-tion of these bins, which perpetually overflow.

In 2019, the civic body decided to install underground bins at 40 places in the first phase. But in the past four years, it has successfully installed underground bins at only 11 public spots. The BMC plans to set up bins at more than five civic-run hospitals.

“Our inspections to find a suitable place to install underground community bins is ongoing,” said Deputy Municipal Commissioner Chanda Jadhav.

Civic activist Sachin Manjrekar said, “There is a need for proper solid waste management. The BMC should focus on waste segregation and timely transportation. The BMC should lay the proper groundwork before announcing any new initiative such as installing underground community bins.” 

1,500
No. of community bins in city

29
No. of underground utilities in the city

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