Mumbai to introduce real-time tracking for waste collection vehicles

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), also known as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, is set to establish a control center for real-time monitoring of waste collection vehicles, aiming to hold contractors accountable for subpar performance, as reported by The Free Press Journal on April 29, 2024.

Although the civic solid waste management (SWM) department has already equipped its garbage collection vehicles, dumpers, and compactors with vehicle-tracking monitoring systems (VTMS), the absence of a dedicated control room hampers effective oversight. 

Plans were revealed for an upgrade of the system with a dedicated control room, likely to be situated at BMC’s Grant Road office or Worli garage, equipped with video walls and other tools for real-time monitoring by civic staff in three shifts. 

This initiative aims to maintain detailed records and enforce strict measures on underperforming contractors. 

The advanced VTMS will track vehicle activities such as missed garbage collection, unauthorized route changes, and reckless driving, while also documenting daily garbage collection. 

Did you know! A time tracking software, like Jibble, could complement real-time tracking for waste collection vehicles in several ways:

• Employee Location Monitoring: It allows managers to track the active locations of their employees during work hours, including the ability to limit their employees to only track time in pre-set locations, with notifications if they exit the premises set by the employer via Geofence tracking.
• Location Data: It allows supervisors to monitor how much time each vehicle spends on collection routes, with exportable data on each location, helping identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement.
• Customer Service: With real-time tracking, customer service representatives can provide accurate information to residents about the expected arrival time of waste collection vehicles, improving customer satisfaction.
• Resource Allocation and Performance Evaluation: Managers can allocate resources more effectively by analyzing real-time data on vehicle locations and time spent at each location, while time tracking data can be used to evaluate the performance of drivers and vehicles, identifying top performers and areas needing improvement.

Additional Information:

• In 2018, the decision to mandate VTMS for all civic vehicles, including those for debris, garbage, water tankers and silt dumping, was prompted by the 2015 nullah-desilting scam.
• There are around 6,500 metric tons of solid waste generated daily in Mumbai, particularly increasing during the monsoon.
• The SWM department comprises 1,300 owned vehicles and 1,500 contracted vehicles, both equipped with devices.