Six modern road sweepers inducted in SDMC fleet

A new model of power vacuum 'Jatayu', an innovative creation of IIT-Delhi and Howard University, was launched to clean the roads of South Delhi on Saturday. The first-of-its-kind will sweep garbage of the streets during nights.

On Saturday, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal flagged off six 'mechanical sweepers' and other modern machines, including Jatayu, to ensure better sanitation and cleanliness in the localities falling under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

Speaking at the occasion, Baijal said that the initiative will help improve the ranking of SDMC in the next Swachhata Sarvekshan and expressed confidence that the Corporation will strive hard to match the level of cleanliness as achieved by the New Delhi Municipal Council.

He also instructed SDMC to procure all remaining machines at the earliest.

SDMC Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel said the mechanical sweepers will help reduce dust on roads.

The sweepers have rotating brushes that are used to keep roads, pavements and other hard surfaces clean and free from debris. They have a 31,000 mm sweeping width that ensures effective and quick cleaning of roads, and can save thousands of man hours.

The litter collection and power sweeping machine is fit for cleaning and maintaining of public places. "The machine will be used during night cleaning of markets and will be procured for all wards soon," Goel said.

Talking about another machine procured by the agency, a senior Corporation official said that the suction-cum-jetting machine is a single unit chassis meant to remove stagnant water from drains, culverts and covered drains and prevent water logging. "The mini jetting machine is fitted on Tata 407, with a 30,000 litre tank made of stainless steel," he added.

SDMC Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat, leader of House Shikha Rai and other senior officials were present at the occasion.