Jalpaiguri Municipality to install GPS trackers in garbage vans
Jalpaiguri: In an initiative aimed at improving waste management services, the Jalpaiguri Municipality has decided to install GPS tracker devices in vehicles that collect garbage from households across the town. Along with this, the traditional whistle used during waste collection will soon be replaced with music played from the garbage collection vans.
According to the municipality, sanitation workers will no longer blow whistles while collecting waste door to door. Instead, songs by renowned singers such as Manna Dey, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Aarti Mukherjee and Nirmala Biswas will be played from the vehicles to alert residents during garbage collection.
Sanitation workers currently collect household waste from all 25 wards under the Jalpaiguri Municipality. However, several residents, including Simanta Biswas and Pritikana Majumdar, have complained that garbage is not collected regularly from many houses except on holidays. According to them, sanitation workers sometimes skip certain houses within the same ward, even though residents are charged a monthly sanitation fee of Rs 30.
Residents have also alleged that roadside garbage is not cleared regularly.
They claim that photos of cleaning work are sometimes taken from different angles on the same day and later posted in groups on different days, creating the impression that sanitation work is carried out daily, while garbage continues to accumulate in several areas.
To address these concerns, the municipality has decided to install GPS trackers not only in garbage collection vans but also in trolley vans and tractors used to collect roadside waste. Through these trackers, authorities will be able to monitor whether vehicles actually carried out cleaning work on a particular day and whether they moved outside their designated areas.
Municipality chairman Saikat Chatterjee said that the initiative was planned following suggestions received during a recent citizens’ convention. He added that the municipality plans to implement the system after the upcoming elections.
