Page 59 - HUDCO Award for Best Practices - 2024

THEME: SANITATION

Quick Pass-Centralised digital pass issue system

for septage collection, transportation, disposal

and payment- Thiruvananthapuram Municipal

Corporation

Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, Kerala

BACKGROUND

This e-Governance project has positively changed the life of hundreds of workers involved in septage collection and transportation
and has prevented pollution of water bodies. The septage waste (black and grey water) which was illegally collected and disposed of
non-scientifically in public places is now being scientifically collected, transported and treated with official monitoring. The project
has re-engineered the processes and systems of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and have transformed the thought
processes of elected representatives, officials, public and service providers alike. The transformation of the entire machinery from a
slow physical file-based system into a fast digital technology oriented one is astounding. The project is exemplary and unique in the
sanse that stakeholders in various walks came together to solve a social issue using technology as the binding force.

Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is spread over 214.86 kilometre square with 100 wards and a population of approx. 10 lakh
inhabitants. The city has a sewerage network 620 KM and 53,000 connections which ends at a 107 MLD capacity sewage treatment
plant (STP) situated at Muttathara. The sewerage network coverage density of the city corporation is 6,000 person per km square,
but in the core city area, the population density is in between 15,000-20,000 per person per kilometre square. There is a large gap
between the coverage and the total population and this leads to situations where the public had to make use of private tanker service
for disposal of septage. There were more than 50 private tankers, within the city, to carry out the activity and they charged very hefty
rates for the service from the public. This septage is emptied, unauthorizedly, to water bodies and other public places like drain, storm
water drain, paddy field etc which directly contaminated water bodies and in turn affected the health of the general public. In order to
resolve the grievances of the public and to control the unauthorised emptying of wastewater (septage) in water bodies, Corporation
of Thiruvananthapuram decided to implement this project.

The dumping of septage waste was a serious issue haunting Thiruvananthapuram polluting its water bodies and public places. Being
home to quite a few rivers and lakes, the city is rich in water resources which are being actively used by the population for daily
activities. The lack of systematic processes for collection of septage waste (black water) had caused the evolution of a parallel illegal
network of trucks owned and operated by criminal elements who had no regard to effects of pollution or to the rules and regulation
related to the same. This mafia was so strong that even elected representatives had a hard time dealing with them.

This project aimed at providing a central digital platform which can be used for regulating and monitoring the trucks and service
providers who are collecting septage waste and to ensure scientific disposal of the collected waste. A bylaw was officially passed by
the Corporation Council after much discussion and interactions which detailed the processes to be implemented in this regard.
The septage waste treatment facility of the Corporation at Beemapally was upgraded to allow trucks to dump the waste easily. Two
backup dumping locations (decanting stations) were also identified to be utilized in case of emergencies. The corporation empaneled
the vendors who wanted to provide the service and based on the licensing conditions, they were required to make their trucks
scientifically capable of storing and transporting septage waste. The trucks were fitted with IRNSS based AIS140 GPS devices and
data was fed to corporation’s servers in real-time. Inspections were done on the trucks which were aptly painted and licenses were
issued to suitable ones. The licensing and related processes were done via a digital platform which could be accessed by the vendors
and officials.

Once the vendors were empaneled, a digital booking portal was put up for allowing the public to request waste collection service. The
portal was linked to the public mobile app for the corporation named Smart Trivandrum. The app acted as a hub which provided a
public platform for the users who needed the service. The payment related to the service was totally digital and was collected using

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