After Kerala, Ghaziabad plans for robot deployment to clean sewer pits

To address the plight of  manual scavengers, who risk their lives on an everyday basis to clean the sewage systems, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation administration has made a significant move. The civic body has planned to soon deploy robots to clean the clogged drains and sewer pits in the city. 

Over the years, there have been a number of scavenging fatalities in Ghaziabad. Information from authorities highlighted that in July 2018, three people lost their lives after falling into a well at a sewage pumping station in Loni. Moreover, five manual scavengers died in August 2019 while cleaning a sewer in Nandagram. 

The GMC authorities said that they are working on a plan to minimise human interference during the annual cleaning of drains and sewer pits before the onset of monsoon.

Robot trial process cost around 39.52 lakhs to GMC 

At Govindpuram in the Kavinagar zone of Ghaziabad, a robotic cleaning machine trial was conducted on 9 June. The cost of the overall process is said to be around Rs 39.52 lakh. As per the information from the authorities, Ghaziabad has 468 drains, of which 73 are important. As far as the number of robots is concerned, civic officials mentioned the ability of 39 lakh robots to be effective in terms of manpower and time.  

Manual scavenging is not just a cumbersome process but also exposes sanitation workers to toxic gases that can prove fatal,” said Anand Tripathi, general manager of GMC’s water works department. 

A bit on Bandicoot, Kerala’s first sewage cleaning robot 

In February 2023, after introducing the robotic scavenger, 'Bandicoot,' Kerala became the first state in the nation to deploy robotic technology to clean all of its commissioned manholes. 

At the time of its launch, the civic officials who were present at the demonstration of Bandicoot at the temple town of Kerala, Guruvayur stated that the robot may prove to be a safer and more effective substitute for manual scavenging, which is not only dangerous but also undermines sanitation workers' dignity. 

Bandicoot can help clean confined spaces such as sewers, manholes, sewer wells, and stormwater manholes. “The multi-armed robot first assesses the level of toxic gases in the sewer pits and flushes it out till the volume of gases like ammonia, sulphur dioxide, and methane reaches permissible limits,” said Tripathi. 

While expressing about Bandicoot, Tripathi further added that when a manhole is completely filled, it might take up to 20 minutes to retrieve waste in the form of sludge and wastewater. 

“The robots are fitted with a tray on which the sludge gets deposited, which is then dumped into an enclosed loader truck to be disposed of at a designated site,” mentioned Tripathi in the wake of a recent Ghaziabad authorities decision.