Mangaluru: The process of initiating a new waste management plan by Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) for a better solid waste management (SWM) system has been postponed to at least 15 days, according to Mayor Mahabala Marla.

Marla told reporters on Saturday that the new contractor for solid waste management (SWM) has sought 15 days to complete the registration of vehicles which need special permission from Bengaluru-based Transport Commissioner. This is because the modifications done for the vehicles are not registered in Karnataka so far, he said.

“..Therefore, we will ask all the eight existing contractors would be asked to continue to pick up garbage as usual for 15 more days”, the mayor said.

Mayor Mahabala Marla said that Mangaluru City South MLA J.R. Lobo had spoken to the Transport Commissioner to resolve the matter soon.

The new contract is taken up by Antony Waste Handling Pvt. Ltd. The company has procured 55 new jeeps for collecting waste from houses and 16 new large compactors — modified for garbage collection and transport.

According to its website, the area coming under the jurisdiction of Mangalore City Corporation produces an average of 175 Tons per day (TPD) of wastes, with a daily collection frequency of 160 TPD. The waste collected has a composition of 75% of organic, 25% of inorganic, 5% of combustible and 10% of recyclable wastes.