Mumbai: In a 1st, BMC to use robot to clean nullahs

In a week's time, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will decide on the stretch of storm water drainage systems that will be cleaned by a robot as part of its preparations for the monsoon season. The civic chief has asked the storm water drain (SWD) department to prepare and submit a list of drains that require cleaning by a robot.

For the first time, the civic body will deploy a robot to clean old storm water drains that are hard to be cleaned even with mechanical workforce .

Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said that the list will be ready within a week. "At present, the civic body will employ a robot on contract for end-to-end cleaning of nullahs or storm water drains," Mehta said.

The robot will be brought from Italy for two years. "The robot will clean a 90-kilometre-stretch of drainage systems in the city over a span of two years," a senior official from the SWD department said. He added that the civic body will spend around Rs five crore on it.

The purpose of using the robot is to prevent BMC labourers from being exposed to hazardous and toxic gases that could be present in nullahs. "There are nullahs in the southern part of the city that were constructed during the British era and many of them have not been cleaned properly for years," another official from the SWD department said. Some of these nullahs that are from the British era are spread all across, Mumbai Central, Byculla, Hindmata, and so on.

The civic body had used cameras to check clogging in nullahs to clean them accordingly in 2017. "We have decided on end-to-end cleaning of nullahs and after using a robot for the purpose, we will check the progress using cameras," Mehta said.

The robot will be controlled by a remote. "The robot will also have a camera so that we can monitor the cleaning of muck," the official further added.

Ravi Raja, Congress corporator and leader of opposition in the BMC, welcomed the move of using latest technology. However, he is curious to know how far can the robot help in ridding the city of floods. "The administration must present the benefits of using a robot," Raja said.

TECH FOR LIFE

• The purpose of using a robot is to prevent BMC labourers from being exposed to hazardous and toxic gases. There are nullahs in SoBo that were constructed during the British era and many of them have not been cleaned properly for years
   
• The robot will be brought from Italy for two years. The robot will clean a 90-kilometre-stretch of drainage systems in the city over a span of two years. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is spending a sum of Rs 5 crore on this project