Aurangabad, April 12:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has procured three state-of-the-art machines from a Gujarat-based company to remove choke-ups or clean up the drainage chambers. It has replaced the labourers with the machines. The cost of three machines is Rs 18 lakh (Rs 6 lakh each) and its utility is being claimed as satisfactory.
The AMC executive engineer Hemant Kolhe said, " Earlier, few labourers had died of suffocation while removing silt from the immersion well in Mukundwadi. Later on, two labourers died of suffocation in a drainage chamber near Salim Ali Lake. Later on, we came to know about a company in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) that had developed an advanced machine. It was perfect to replace the manpower pressed to clean up the drainage chambers. The cost of one unit equipped with the machine was Rs 10 lakh. Hence, we found a way out. The AMC was using autos to lift garbage. We got the machines installed on these autos through the company - Active Motors. In few months, the equipment was installed on three autos by spending just Rs 6 lakh each (total Rs 18 lakh). The AMC's mechanical section had received the autos. There are nine zones in the jurisdiction of AMC. Hence it is planning to install six more machines, soon."
Features of the machine
It is very convenient in removing all types of waste from a 30 feet deepdrainage chamber (manhole). The machine's bucket removes the silt from the base like the JCB's jaw. Presently, the machine is being used by each zone on a rotation basis of three days. In the past eight days, the machines had successfully removed choke-ups at 25 different spots in the city.
Save Rs 10L per anum
Every year, the AMC spends around Rs 10 lakh on petty contractors deployed on the task of removing drainage choke-ups from the chambers. The contractors press the labourers, who then go inside the chamber and clean it. Now, there will be no need for labourers to as the machines will do their tasks and the AMC would be saving Rs 10 lakh per year, it is hoped.