SRINAGAR: The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Thursday introduced an app-based facility for residents to book waste bins online, with the service available round the clock and a booking charge of around Rs 2,000 per day.
SMC Commissioner Fazlul Haseeb said the initiative was aimed at making waste-management services more accessible while reducing physical interaction between residents and the civic administration.
The facility is primarily intended for social and community events, including weddings, condolence gatherings and other functions held at homes and community halls, where temporary waste disposal arrangements may be required.
“This is one of those steps to improve service delivery and to ensure that there is faceless governance,” Haseeb said.
Under the new system, users can make bookings and complete payments through the integrated online payment gateway. Following successful payment, the user will receive a confirmation containing the name and phone number of the designated driver, while booking details will also be sent through SMS.
Haseeb said the online system would simplify the earlier process, under which residents had to approach the corporation, make a booking and separately check the availability of waste bins.
Bookings will be made on a day-to-day basis, with each booking period running from 10 am to 10 am the following day. An additional day will follow the same cycle. The charge has been fixed at around Rs 2,000 per day, which the Commissioner described as a nominal fee.
The SMC has earmarked specific hooper vehicles and drivers for the service to ensure that confirmed bookings are attended to efficiently.
The Commissioner said the facility was part of the corporation’s wider digitalisation efforts aimed at simplifying civic services and promoting a more faceless system of governance.
On waste management, Haseeb said several projects were at different stages of implementation, including a construction and demolition waste processing plant, the Integrated Solid Waste Management project and a biomining project.
He said the government had undertaken major initiatives to strengthen waste processing and disposal, while the SMC was working towards their effective implementation.
“Waste management, for so many years, we have had a waste problem. Obviously, a transition system is going on in which systems are being implemented,” Haseeb said.
He expressed hope that the ongoing transition would result in significant progress over the next one to two years.
Haseeb also said the SMC had started a comprehensive audit of its community halls to identify infrastructure and facility-related deficiencies.
The assessment covers furnishing, bathrooms, electricity connections, windows, accessibility and other basic requirements.
“We have designed a format, we have done an audit format,” Haseeb said, adding that the exercise was being conducted across all community halls operated by the corporation.
Around 25 community halls have already been audited, while another seven to eight remain to be covered, he said.
The Commissioner said repair work would be taken up after the audit was completed and deficiencies had been identified by the concerned officials. The next phase will include repairs, furnishing and other improvements based on the findings of the assessment.
He said the overall objective was to improve civic infrastructure and services while using technology to make public services simpler and more accessible. (KNS)
