Tambaram residents wait & watch as waste collection goes private

The Tambaram corporation in Chennai has privatised solid waste management in all five zones and 70 wards, aiming to become a zero-waste urban local body. The new waste management agency, Ourland, started work on 1 September with 1,650 workers on a three-year contract. While the frequency of garbage collection and source segregation has improved, experts and residents believe more needs to be done, such as daily door-to-door collection, GPS devices in garbage collection vehicles, and biometric attendance for workers. The agency’s performance will determine the release of payment.