7,500 tonnes of solid waste removed in mass cleaning

According to a Corporation press release, since the mass cleaning drive commenced on May 27, as much as 1,894 tonnes of garbage and 5,511 tonnes of construction waste were removed from 959 spots. “In total, 7,405 tonnes of solid waste were removed from the city roads,” Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Corporation Commissioner, said.

The civic body has deployed more than 400 road workers, 1,500 sanitary workers apart from more than 400 heavy machineries. To monitor the mass cleaning, 15 senior-level engineers of the civic body have been given the responsibility of each of the 15 zones. Initially, the civic body had planned to remove around 5,500 tonnes of garbage and construction waste from the roads

The release added that solid waste was also removed from slum clearance board premises. The civic body has plans to continue the drive till the complete lockdown is in place and to extend the mass cleaning to water bodies and waterways in the city.

“During normal days, we can not deploy heavy machines on roads due to traffic. Now, it is easier to use such machines. We will maintain the cleanliness even after the lockdown lifted,” an official said.

Following the footsteps of the Chennai Corporation, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metrowater) has started a similar drive to desilt sewer lines across the city. The water manager has deployed 28 desilting machines and 18 jet rodding machines to clean the manholes and desilt sewer lines.