Two modern garbage transfer stations on pilot basis

‘Hook and lift’ system to be adopted at these stations

GHMC is taking up a pilot project to experiment with modern equipment at two garbage stations in the city.

While the locations are yet to be identified, they will be chosen from the spots identified for mini transfer stations soon to be set up across the city, Commissioner D. S. Lokesh Kumar said during an interaction with media here on Friday.

Modern vehicles and containers would be used to shift garbage from these transfer stations to the Jawahar Nagar landfill, so that the trash was properly covered, and no stench escaped from the vehicle or the container.

“A ‘hook and lift’ system will be adopted to shift the garbage from these stations, whereby the trash containers could be lifted by a hook into the vehicle and taken away,” Mr. Lokesh Kumar said.

In the existing system, the garbage arriving from surrounding localities is dumped openly in the transfer station, and shovelled into the transport trucks, after which it is covered by a plastic sheet before being shifted to the dump yard. Stench and parts of the trash escaping from the trucks are often cause for discomfort of vehicle riders and also residents of the localities the vehicles pass through.

Containers with a capacity of 12 to 14 metric tonnes would be placed at each of the two new transfer stations, Mr. Lokesh Kumar said.

The vehicles and containers would be procured by the HIMSW, the concessionaire firm for solid waste Management in the city, while the transfer stations would be managed by GHMC, he said.

Meanwhile, GHMC has identified 100 to 150 locations which are suitable for setting up mini garbage transfer stations. A total of 95 transfer stations are to be set up at different locations across the city.

As of now, only 17 garbage transfer stations exist in the city, where the trash from surrounding localities is brought and stored before being shifted to the landfill for processing.