Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Delhi Government is soon going to install Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in septic tanks of the houses situated in the un-authorised colonies through which people can get their “septic tank” cleaned legally and for free of cost.

The project is one of AAP's main poll promises — Chief Minister Free Septic Tank Cleaning'. The Government is soon going to award work to induct about 90 RFID tagged, reader and Geo Positioning System (GPS) installed vehicles for cleaning septic tanks in unauthorised colonies.

The Government will also create a call center and will set up helpline numbers along with creating an application (App) for free septic tank cleaning.

"People can approach via the helpline numbers or can download the app to avail the free services. Also, to avoid illegal cleaning of the tanks, the government will install RFID tags in the household septic tanks as well the trucks will also be equipped with the RFID tags and GPS tracking to avoid any scam and illegal collecting. It will also help the government to keep a tab on the number of houses, and wastes and garbage dumps. The garbage and wasted collected from each household will be first filtered and then will be disposed off," said the official.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's free septic tank cleaning was announced after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in August last year directed the government and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) with giving a period of 120 days to formulate a committee or plan to clean polluted Yamuna River and to stop disposal of illegal septic tank debris in the river and also sewer deaths caused while cleaning the sewer tanks. Following which a scheme was launched by Delhi Government in November last year.

"About 70 lakhs of populations in Delhi is living in the un-authorized colonies (UC). There are about 1731 UC's in Delhi, out which sewer and pipeline connection has been laid in many colonies but there are still colonies where the sewer line is pending and is not laid. In such areas, people have dug deep septic tanks and get it cleaned through private operators, where the trucks use to come and suck the wastes for merely Rs 300-400 and dump it in the Yamuna without filtering the waste and garbage due to lack of a proper system" said a government official.

Elaborating further, the official added that the government has set up a mechanism called 'Septic Tank Cleaning Distribution and Management system' (SCDMS) to address this issue with proper management. Tender has been floated days after the announcement of the scheme to induct trucks to clean the septic tanks. The estimated budget of the project per annum is Rs 25 lakh (approximately).

"All the paper work has been done and the award of work is pending, which will be awarded in the first meeting of  the DJB, expected by end of March," said an official.

The 'CM free septic tank cleaning' was one of the poll promises and a scheme launched a few weeks before the imposition of Modal Code of Conduct for the general assembly elections in the national Capital.