Waste bins equipped with sensors are being placed along New Town roads in northeast Kolkata that will send alerts when they fill up.
According to an New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) official, sensors fitted to the ‘smart bins’ have been equipped with SIM cards.
The sensors are tuned in such a way that whenever the level of garbage in the bin reaches a certain level it activates the SIM card.
The SIM card then sends a message to the command centre at the NKDA headquarters near Rabindra Tirtha.
These bins are being placed in phases. The first lot has already been placed in front of several parks and public spaces in New Town, another NKDA official said.
According to the official, the smart bins have been allocated numbers and the exercise is aimed at improving garbage collection from the township and reduce the number of trips made by garbage collection vehicles.
“The entire exercise is aimed at streamlining the garbage collection system in New Town and save fuel used by garbage collection trucks,” NKDA chairman Debashis Sen said.