App to monitor waste collection and beat littering

Panaji: An app to monitor waste collection by civic bodies is being planned as despite the door-to-door collection of waste by them, black spots have not disappeared.
“Every residential or commercial unit will be assigned a barcode,” a senior official said. “With the app, from a centrally monitored system, we will be able to see how each civic body is executing its duty of picking up waste.”
The government, the official said, has been in talks with an agency in Kerala to introduce an app in Goa that will help stop the dumping of waste in open spaces by the public as waste pick-up will be checked.
All 191 panchayats now pick up waste from each house or any other unit in their respective jurisdictions. Yet it is not uncommon to find waste thrown in fields or along roads.
“In most cases, people who live in rented houses dump waste in the open,” the official said. “Since they are not at home when collection happens, they often dump waste indiscriminately.”
To effectively deal with the problem, the official said, the authorities have decided to install transfer bins at certain locations across the state. It will discourage people from throwing waste anywhere and everywhere.
The official, however, said that had panchayats taken some measures against littering in public spaces, this problem would not have arisen. “Panchayats can install CCTV cameras or resort to other methods to nab people who throw waste in the open, but no such measures were taken,” he said.
The official said the laxity of panchayats or municipal bodies will not be taken lightly any longer. At times, he said, it is seen that contractors appointed by panchayats are at fault, and responsible for dumping waste.
The option will be given to a civic body to engage a contractor from among those empanelled by the government.
The next job for panchayats, the official said, is wet waste collection and its treatment. To date, over 20 panchayats have been collecting wet waste. “The government has set up a facility for wet waste treatment for panchayats, but some have been uncooperative in making them functional,” he said. “There will be action against them if they do not fall in line.”