Trichy’s Smart Bin Project fails to take off

The smart bin project initiated by the city corporation eight months ago has failed to take off due to the absence of two specialised garbage collection vehicles. The project involved placing 40 smart bins across the city, with the plan to install a total of 175 bins. In the first phase, the corporation invested 140 million to commission the bins.These smart bins were designed with built-in sensors to alert authorities when they reached capacity. Approximately 40 per cent of the bins were placed below the surface level and featured lids to prevent garbage overflow. However, due to their weight, only crane-mounted trucks could unload them. Unfortunately, the unavailability of these specialised vehicles has hindered the implementation of the project, leaving the 40 smart bins unused, as confirmed by a corporation official.In response to the situation, the corporation has procured two crane-mounted trucks, currently undergoing the registration process. The officials assure that these trucks will be introduced soon. However, they also mentioned that there are no plans to install additional smart bins at this time. Instead, they will focus on utilising the existing ones once the vehicles are in operation.Trichy had achieved the status of a bin-free city in 2019 when the corporation removed 1,172 bins and implemented doorstep waste collection. However, areas such as markets and tourist destinations, including temples, continued to generate waste that could not be efficiently collected through the existing waste management system. Consequently, under the smart city mission scheme, the civic body proposed the smart bins project in 2021, and in November 2022, the Gandhi Market area became the first location to have these smart bins installed.