New Delhi

Civic bodies gearing up to upgrade dustbins

Photo: V. Sudershan

Vigilant: Delhi Police personnel checking dustbins in the NDMC areas following the recent bomb explosions in the Capital.

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the recent serial blasts in the Capital where terrorists set off bombs kept inside dustbins, the local civic bodies are reviewing a proposal to upgrade dustbins installed at marketplaces and roadsides.

To begin with, the New Delhi Municipal Council has planned a three-pronged approach including a proposal to issue smart cards to hawkers to identify authorised ones.

“We have instructed all our safai karamcharis to be vigilant while cleaning out dustbins and report any suspicious object found in bins to their supervisor or to the nearby beat constable. We have also directed them to wear aprons identifying them as NDMC employees so that they are not mistaken for suspicious persons. We also plan to issue smart cards to all our hawkers for which a preliminary meeting has already been held and the matter has now been taken up by the Director (Information Technology) and Director (Enforcement),” said a senior NDMC official.

The NDMC is also contemplating replacing existing dustbins with better quality ones in keeping with the latest standards and reviewing the requirement for additional bins.

On the other hand, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi which has far fewer dustbins than the NDMC is also planning to review installation of new dustbins in view of the need for increased security measures.

MCD Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta said: “Before installing new dustbins in market corners we plan to consider all alternatives to see which type of bins would be most suited keeping in mind the present scenario of terrorism. We would be reviewing whether the bins should be transparent or installed near a camera surveillance system.”

“The tenders for our door-to-door garbage collection on wheels would also be reviewed,” he added.

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