GUWAHATI: The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has halted the deployment of 60 electric vehicles designed for door-to-door garbage collection due to discrepancies in their specifications. The vehicles, equipped with segregated bins, are electric light commercial vehicles (LCVs) capable of carrying up to 600 kg of waste and travelling 157 km on a single hour of charge.
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GMC Mayor Mrigen Sarania explained that these vehicles were supplied by Isha Fab Engineerings Private Limited in accordance with a tender issued last October. The tender specified that the containers should be made from galvanized iron (GI) sheets with a thickness of 2.00 mm. However, inspections revealed that the actual thickness was only 1.5 mm, leading to the suspension of their use until the issue is resolved.
“We paid a good amount for these vehicles, and as per instructions, these vehicles were supposed to be deployed immediately for the garbage collection in all 60 wards, but it has hit a bump as these cannot be used. The matter has been taken up by the GMC mayor-in-council, which is headed by deputy mayor Smita Roy. The committee’s first plan of action is to hold the company responsible and correct their mistake. Additionally, we are also planning to charge them with a fine,” the mayor said.
