Andhra Pradesh becomes first state to adopt electric waste disposal vehicles

While most metro and urban dwellings are dealing with waste segregation, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has come up with an innovative plan. This is the first time that any state in India has adopted smart and electric waste disposal vehicles. Recently, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the deployment of pollution-free electric autorickshaws with advanced hydraulic disposal system at AP Secretariat. The vehicles have been supplied to the government by an electric vehicle manufacturing startup, Gayam Motor Works.

Although waste management services exist in nearly every community, the current operating standards have proven inefficient and highly resource-intensive. This inefficiency is largely due to outdated manual collection methods and logistical processes that lack efficient data-driven solutions. J Nivas, Commissioner of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, said,

The city’s waste management system can now be monitored from a single location by officials at Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC). This initiative transforms public space waste management with mobile and cloud-connected system. Our fleet of electric vehicles communicates real-time status to software systems. Communities benefit from optimised and streamlined operations, beautified public spaces, and reduced carbon footprint.

Gayam Motor Works (GMW), which produces most advanced electric bikes and smart autos, was founded in 2010 with a vision to accelerate the world’s transition towards smart and sustainable mobility. The company is first in the country to develop indigenous battery swapping technology for electric vehicles.

With the integration of new generation technology, municipal supervisors can now track several aspects, such as waste pick-up points, vehicle routes and disposal alerts from a single dashboard. This will improve per-vehicle productivity, reduce noncompliance, and eliminate manual tracking for monitoring and escalation. Replacing diesel autos with electric autos also means zero fuel consumption and zero greenhouse gas emissions. Each diesel auto replaced will reduce about 35 tons of carbon emissions over a period of five years. As much as 2,00,000 tons of carbon emissions can be reduced by replacing more than 5,000 municipal disposal vehicles across the state with electric vehicles.

The running cost is now reduced from Rs 3.50/km to Rs 0.50/km, by replacing a diesel autorickshaw with a GMW SmartAuto. With this forethought, the State government plans to scale these smart and electric vehicles to other municipalities in the State.

The State government has earlier deployed 100 electric bikes and State-wide electric vehicle deployments to enhance the urban experience without negative aesthetic and environmental impact in the city of Visakhapatnam.

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