Muridke to introduce vehicle tracking system

LAHORE:

Municipal Committee Muridke, a small town around 55 kilometres away from Lahore, is introducing “Monitoring and Vehicle Tracking System” for improvement in their Solid Waste Management System.

The step is a novel and progressive step when it comes to Muridke, situated on GT Road, a tehsil of Sheikhupura.

The 2017 census shows the town’s population is hardly 166,652.

Municipal Officer Infrastructure and Services (MO) Hasnain Hafeez, talking to The Express Tribune, shared that under the monitoring and vehicle tracking system, fuel gauges will be installed in the vehicles.

These will generate a chart of fuel consumption, ignition start timing, and route of the vehicle throughout the day. An official shared with The Express Tribune said that currently MC Muridke had only 63% of Solid Waste Management Efficiency.

“The entire city is not served with solid waste collection and disposal. The average efficiency of the services is 63% as given below (138 cubic meter that becomes 69 tons is generated everyday- only 88 cubic metres that is 44 tonnes is collected- the dumping site is open and uncovered along the railway track for three kilometres),” he shared.

A gaps analysis report prepared by Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company (PMFDC) said the poor solid management was a result in the MC because the containers were being used as waste bins as no Arm roll is available to lift these containers and transport to dumping sites.

The existing machinery was neither sufficient nor cost effective and efficient that gave a rise to low efficiency of collection and disposal of the waste and as a result of that MC was facing increased waste management cost as well as complaints regarding the insanitary conditions in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2022.