Ranchi Municipal Corporation's Tech Initiative To Keep City Clean

Ranchi: Ranchi Municipal Corporation has introduced a technical initiative to improve sanitation in the state capital.

The civic body has set a target of installing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in 2.5 lakh houses of the city to ensure monitoring and tracking of door-to-door garbage collection. The tags have been installed in one lakh houses in the city so far.

According to civic body, the objective of this initiative is to ensure regular garbage collection from every house. With the help of RFID tags, it can be ascertained whether garbage collection vehicles are reaching the houses on time. This will ensure transparency and help resolve complaints swiftly.

RMC official Niharika Tirkey said the scheme has been implemented in a phased manner in Zone 3 and 4 and till now work has been started in around one lakh houses. The scheme is supposed to be implemented in the entire municipal corporation area, but at present is actively being run in only a few wards, she said.

The civic body has appealed the city's residents to cooperate to ensure the success of the initiative. Tirkey said complaints are being received from many areas over delay in lifting of garbage. "The corporation is taking such complaints seriously and is working towards a solution in collaboration with agencies," she said.

The RFID tag connects every house to a unique code. As soon as the tag is scanned through the system installed in the garbage collection vehicles, its real time information reaches the control room of the civic body.

However, RMC is faced with challenges like negligence of garbage lifting agencies, limited number of tagging and lack of vehicle numbers. But the corporation claims that continuous improvements are being done on the basis of feedback received from citizens.