Saini flags off 50 EVs for doorstep waste pickup

Gurgaon: Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini flagged off 50 new electric vehicles in the city on Thursday to streamline doorstep waste collection. This is the first time that electric vehicles will be utilised for doorstep waste collection in the city. With this, the fleet of garbage pickup vehicles has expanded to over 500.
By incorporating electric vehicles in the waste collection process, officials said the civic body aims to not only expedite the collection of garbage but also contribute to environmental conservation efforts.
“Electric vehicles that we have flagged off won’t only speed up garbage collection from households, but will also help the environment,” CM Saini said during the launch.
On June 19, Gurgaon divisional commissioner RC Bidhan flagged off 350 vehicles for primary waste collection. The corporation has also constituted 50 teams to identify gaps in door-to-door waste collection. Based on the findings of this survey, MCG will hire more vehicles to strengthen doorstep waste collection.
Residents, however, said doorstep waste collection is irregular in various parts of the city since the private agencies hired by MCG don’t have requisite manpower and vehicles. The new agencies also have no clarity on their respective jurisdictions, making it difficult for residents, they said.
“Door-to-door waste collection is not at all happening in our sector despite the corporation’s tall claims of gradually adding vehicles to their fleet. Earlier, Ecogreen covered 70% of the sector and the remaining 30% was covered by the private vendors. But now, the new vendors are not turning up because they don’t have the required manpower and vehicles. MCG had sufficient time to make arrangements for this before the elections when they issued the preliminary termination notice to Ecogreen,” said Lalit Suraj Bhola, general secretary of Sector 9A RWA.
The CM also inaugurated cloth bag vending machines on Thursday. These machines will be installed across public places in the city soon. Residents can get cloth bags by inserting a Rs 10 coin or using UPI. CM Saini also inaugurated sanitary pad vending machines.