Mangaluru: The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) is planning a data-driven overhaul of its waste management system by mapping sanitation workers, collection vehicles, workloads and routes across the city. The initiative is aimed at identifying service gaps, improving accountability and ensuring that civic resources are deployed where they are most needed.

MCC to map nearly 900 sanitation workers

MCC Commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey said the corporation currently does not have a precise day-to-day record of where every sanitation worker is deployed or which areas are being covered by individual waste collection vehicles.

The proposed system will map nearly 900 sanitation workers, drivers and loaders along with their respective workloads and areas of operation. The mapping will be carried out on a ward-wise basis, covering personnel, streets, collection routes and vehicle capacity.

According to Pandey, the exercise will help the corporation identify which official or team is responsible for a particular street and which driver is assigned to a specific waste collection route. The MCC expects to gain greater clarity on these deployments within 20 to 25 days.

Vehicle capacity and collection gaps to be assessed

The corporation also plans to assess the capacity of individual waste collection vehicles and determine how many households or locations each vehicle can effectively serve.

Pandey said this assessment would help officials identify areas where the existing fleet is insufficient instead of attempting to immediately procure new vehicles for every location.

The data could help the MCC determine where demand is highest, where collection pressure is greater and where additional resources are required. This, in turn, would allow the corporation to prioritise vehicle deployment based on actual requirements.

The proposed approach is expected to give civic officials a clearer picture of gaps in the existing waste collection network and help them allocate resources more efficiently.

Responsibility for missed services

At present, daily deployment of sanitation personnel is managed through existing reporting arrangements involving workers and health inspectors. The proposed ward-wise mapping would add a more detailed layer of information about individual assignments and collection routes.

This could make it easier for the corporation to establish responsibility when waste collection is missed in a particular locality.

Instead of relying only on general complaints about poor collection, officials would potentially be able to identify the team or vehicle assigned to the affected street and determine where the service gap occurred.

The initiative therefore seeks to move Mangaluru’s waste management system towards greater operational accountability and data-based decision-making.

MCC seeks additional engineering support

Pandey has also requested the State Government to bring back Madhu S. Manohar, an Assistant Executive Engineer currently posted in Kolar, to Mangaluru.

The request is aimed at strengthening the corporation’s efforts to streamline waste management operations and improve the functioning of the system.

The move comes as MCC works on multiple measures to address operational shortcomings in waste collection and disposal.

‘Nuisance detectors’ proposed for spot fines

Separately, the MCC is working on a framework to designate officials as “Nuisance Detectors” with powers to impose spot fines on people violating solid waste management rules.

The proposed personnel could include designated health inspectors and other civic officials.

The mechanism is intended to address instances such as dumping waste outside shops and disposing of garbage in public places.

The corporation has not yet implemented the system in Mangaluru. Pandey said violations are sometimes captured on camera and brought to the attention of the civic body, but the existing process of issuing notices and conducting hearings can delay enforcement.

The proposed spot-fine system is expected to enable quicker action against violations.

Data-driven approach aims to improve city sanitation

The proposed changes mark an attempt by the MCC to bring greater use of data and accountability into everyday waste management.

Mapping workers and vehicles could help the corporation understand how its existing resources are being used, while information on collection capacity could guide future decisions on fleet expansion.

At the same time, the proposed nuisance-detector system could strengthen enforcement against indiscriminate dumping.

The immediate priority for the MCC is to complete the personnel and vehicle mapping exercise and develop the framework for appointing officials with spot-fine powers.

If implemented effectively, the measures could help Mangaluru address gaps in waste collection while making civic officials more directly accountable for sanitation services across the city.