File picture of a garbage carrier in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 18: Vehicles engaged by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) for transporting solid waste will be fitted with various vehicle-tracking systems for effective management and minimising expenditure.

The corporation’s vehicles will be fitted with gadgets operating on geographic-information system (GIS) and global-positioning system (GPS) to enable them to take the shortest possible route to their destinations. This will help the corporation save expenditure on fuel as transportation cost takes a major share in its solid waste management plans.

The state housing and urban development department has issued a notification inviting a request for proposal to rope in experts in the field of solid waste management under the National Mission Mode Project (NMMP). The use of GIS and GPS will also help in proper disposal and effective collection and transportation of solid waste.

An officer in the BMC information technology project management unit said: “The solid waste management optimisation plan will use funds provided under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for better management of the civic administration.’’

Sources said the civic authorities implemented a pilot study on the vehicle-tracking system by a group of young engineers during March-April last year. However, the pilot project could not deliver as per the expectations.

A senior BMC official said: “The IT-based applications for solid waste management plan will be integrated so that once all the modules are operational, the civic body can come to know its own expenditures and effective implementation of the applications.’’

While the vehicle monitoring and tracking system is one of the sub-modules of the information technology-enabled solid waste management plan, mechanisms will also be created to monitor the weighing of the vehicles and their number of trips to the dump yard.

The applications will also be able to detect transporting vehicles that are not loading to the desired level but making trips to final dumping yard.

The BMC has put a lot of emphasis on solid waste management in this year’s budget. The investment on solid waste management was Rs 26 crore last year. But this year, it has been raised to Rs 45 crore.

“Last year, the vehicle-tracking system was implemented on three vehicles of the corporation for a brief period. But we do not know why the pilot project was stopped. The new proposal will help the corporation make the maximum use of the money it invests on solid waste management,’’ said city health officer Chandrika Prasad Das, who is also in charge of solid waste management.