GHMC App To Track Houses That Pay For Doorstep Collection Of Garbage By SAT Teams

Hyderabad: The GHMC said it has designed an app that would track houses that pay for doorstep collection of garbage by Swachh Auto Tipper (SAT) teams, those who don't subscribe to the service as well as drivers who skip houses. It is as part of this exercise that the GHMC intended to mark houses with red, for those who ignore SAT teams, and blue or green for those who hand over their garbage to the sanitation staff.

The exercise will cover apartment flats too. If an apartment has 10 flats, it will be marked ‘1/ 10’. If even one flat does not dispose the garbage through SAT, they would mark it ‘red’.

Till date, the charges paid were only known to the resident and the SAT driver; there was no physical or online record for the corporation. An official said that based on this data, the GHMC planned to sensitise people, address the root cause and enhance the door to door garbage and impose penalties too.

Speaking about the red mark, the official said that they had faced objections from two households. “We were able to address the issue,” the official said. While one person said that SAT did not come to his house, another said he would start handing over garbage. “The issues were addressed and the red mark removed,” the official said.

“ This task of marking the houses and integrating them into an online module is a big one and it has just started. The idea is to enhance the door to door garbage collection and hold the stakeholder responsible if this sanitation activity is not executed,” the official added.

Activists however said the exercise would be used to target economically weaker sections. “This act is a stunt to gain scores in the Swachh Survekshan rankings. Officials will not put the red mark on premium properties even if they don’t dispose of garbage through SATs. They will only mark houses in slums and play to the gallery,” said Harish Daga, an activist from the city.