Coimbatore corporation seeks 200 more vehicles for solid waste management | Coimbatore News

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation has sent a proposal to the state govt seeking additional vehicles for solid waste management. This is in line with its initiative to improve waste collection by replacing pushcarts. Corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said nearly 200 light commercial vehicles have been requested from the state govt. He said, “Additional vehicles will get sanction, but manpower shortage will continue. The state has sanctioned less than what the corporation initially requested based on the contract terms, cost and other factors.”A senior official said the corporation might require nearly 3,000 more sanitation workers, in addition to the existing 5,000 workers, including permanent and contract workers. The officer said, “Many permanent workers have retired, and their places remain vacant. We have planned to send a proposal for more manpower, but we are unsure how many will get sanctioned or if our proposal will be completely rejected.”A councillor in the North zone said, “It has been a request from many councillors to deploy additional sanitation workers to execute the daily collection effectively. Waste management cannot be done only with vehicles, and it requires people, too. For the city’s population, the current workforce is insufficient. In many wards, the number of permanent staff has been reduced, and councillors are constantly requesting more people.“