Vadodara Municipal Corporation to use fleet of 40 e-rickshaws to monitor cleanliness in the city

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will press into service 40 e-rickshaws to closely monitor cleanliness in the city. The launch of these vehicles, to be held tomorrow at Mahatma Gandhinagar town hall, coincides with the World Environment Day. “These e-rickshaws will move in different areas of the city to ensure cleanliness. A sanitary worker will double up as a driver and also pick up garbage as and when he spots it,” municipal commissioner Vinod Rao told PTI. “An official, who will be accompanying the worker, will carry a challan book to penalise individuals or establishments found littering,” he said. On the occasion importance of waste segregation will be highlighted and a mass pledge will be taken to separate waste at source, said Rao. “We have provided dustbin facilities to people in all the 12 wards of the city for effective implementation of waste segregation,” said the civic chief. Ranjanben Bhatt BJP MP from Vadodara said “Cleanliness was very close to Mahatma Gandhi’s heart. The best tribute that we can pay to Bapu when we celebrate his 150th birth anniversary in 2019 is by keeping the city clean.” Vadodara mayor Bharat Dangar said “Now the time has come to devote ourselves to cleanliness of our city.” Vadodara city generates 1,200 tonnes of waste per day, said a civic official. The city was ranked tenth on the Swachh Bharat index this year.