THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: City corporation has sought action from police against a few operators of septage carriers who have allegedly used fake licence number of the civic body to gain business from households.
Mayor Arya Rajendran has communicated to station-house heads of a few police stations about tankers operating with fake licence. In her letter, the mayor pointed out that the corporation has authorised a total of 28 tankers which have been enrolled and registered under corporation’s online septage-collection system.
The matter came to the notice after a corporation health squad intercepted a vehicle last week which apparently collected septage without any authorisation from the corporation. Similar instances were also reported by Vizhinjam and Mangalapuram police.
The health officials reported that the tankers operated with falsified documents and discharged septage in public places, mostly waterbodies. If this practice is allowed to continue, it would derail an authorised system which ensures that septage is collected at a fair rate and is transported in a scientific manner to centralised sewage-treatment plant at Muttathara, said corporation officials.
The health team has also come across web portals that flash contact numbers of unauthorised septage carriers on Google search. One of the numbers was tracked to an operator who held an official account under corporation’s septage-collection system. When questioned, the operator denied of any involvement in unauthorised collection of septage. The corporation is seeking technical assistance to reach out to web portals and flag the malpractice.
The frauds are reported at a time when the corporation recently grossed over Rs 5 crore through online septage-collection system. The income from septage collection crossed the milestone of Rs 5 crore in January and the corporation fetched a revenue of Rs 1.35 crore after distributing the share to private tankers enrolled under the scheme.
The civic body had collected and transported 8.29 crore litres of septage from houses, apartments and institutions to the sewage- treatment plant at Muttathara till January.
Individual houses have so far been the biggest beneficiaries of the project. As many as 9,500 households availed online service of septage collection since it was launched in April 2019. Hotels and restaurants made 4,770 bookings while 1,481 collection trips were booked for flats and apartments. Catering services and government institutions have also availed the service with 349 trips and 129 trips, respectively. However, illegal operators eye households who are unaware of the corporation’s official system. Kazhakootam, where a sewage network is absent, has made the most of online septage-collection system with 1,327 bookings. Its neighbouring wards Attipra, Kulathoor and Kadakampally have also recorded over 400 bookings between 2019 and 21. The system functions based on septage receiving, operation and maintenance bylaw which was approved by the corporation council in 2018.
The civic body pitched the bylaw to prevent the practice of private tankers dumping septage in waterbodies and by the roadside. The corporation has been issuing licence for online-based collection of septage to private tankers since 2019. Licensed vehicles will be painted dark brown and will be fitted with GPS. There will be a label in white colour denoting septage-collection vehicle.