Navi Mumbai to put 200 AI cameras on garbage hotspots and collection trucks

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) plans to install 200 AI cameras in the city. Having won the title of the country's cleanest city, the administration is under pressure to retain it. The cameras are meant to stop garbage from piling up again.

The cameras will identify spots where garbage collects and keep watch on places prone to filth. They will also help officials act on cleanliness problems. The corporation says the city's cleanliness standard must not slip after it ranked first in the national cleanliness survey.

The centre of the system is the NMMC's Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), set up on the first floor of the corporation headquarters in Belapur. The centre will work as a monitoring hub, bringing several of the corporation's functions onto a single platform.

Garbage vehicles running in the city's wards, from Digha village to Belapur, can be tracked from this centre. Officials will watch the movement of the vehicles and check whether garbage is being collected at the scheduled time. Collection of wet and dry waste, and the attendance of vehicle drivers, will also be monitored.

Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde said cameras will also be fitted at the front and rear of garbage trucks, which will allow closer oversight of work on the ground. Senior officials, including the municipal commissioner, will be able to watch all this from the cabins in their own offices.

Dr Kailas Shinde, Commissioner, NMMC, said: "Our responsibility has grown after coming first. Retaining this position will be more challenging and we will have to work harder than before."

Deputy Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Dr Ajay Gadade said: "From garbage vehicles and their routes to the collection of wet and dry waste and the attendance of staff, this system provides real-time monitoring. It will help us catch shortcomings, fix accountability and take corrective action wherever needed."

The cameras will show the administration which areas accumulate more garbage and which places need cleaning more often. It will no longer have to depend entirely on complaints or periodic inspections. Officials will get a technology-based picture of cleanliness across the city.

With 200 AI cameras and a central monitoring system, the NMMC is now looking beyond winning a cleanliness award. Its bigger challenge is to ensure that the number-one title is also reflected in the everyday experience of Navi Mumbai residents.