Garbage collection vehicles operated by the Coimbatore Corporation are transporting waste in sacks tied to the rear of vehicles as the civic body grapples with a shortage of collection vehicles.

The Corporation’s waste collection fleet comprises 401 light commercial vehicles used for door-to-door collection, 131 battery-operated vehicles (BOVs), and 626 larger vehicles, including lorries and open-body trucks used for transportation of waste. However, sanitation workers and drivers said the available vehicles are insufficient to handle the quantity of waste generated in the city.

S. Prabakaran, a driver attached to the East Zone, said conservancy workers and drivers had been instructed to use sacks to collect additional dry waste when the carrying capacity of vehicles was exceeded. Wet waste was loaded into the vehicle bins, while dry waste was collected in sacks and tied to the rear of the vehicles for transport, he said.

Azkar, a driver from the Central Zone, said a vehicle designed to carry around 700 kg of waste was often required to transport more than its prescribed capacity. He said vehicles already made two trips a day between wards and transfer stations, and without the use of sacks, additional trips would be required to complete waste collection.

Coimbatore generates an average of about 1,100 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day. Workers said the quantity of waste collected from households and a few commercial establishments often exceeded the carrying capacity of the available fleet.

Corporation officials acknowledged the shortage and said orders had already been placed for the procurement of 200 electric vehicles in the first phase. The additional vehicles are expected to strengthen waste collection operations and reduce the need for makeshift arrangements to transport excess waste, they added.