KMC set to launch 74 new desilting machines

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon do away with cleaning of manholes during night with the launch of 74 new

desilting machines. Presently the civic body uses 70 such

desiliting machines for cleaning of manholes and work is carried out in two shifts- during the day and also during night.

The KMC will carry out desiliting at night only in case of any emergency situation.

"We have found that work during day can be carried out in more efficient and professional manner. The

workers complained of difficulty in working night time. Moreover, the monitoring by the higher officials could not be carried out during the

night.

With 74 additional desiliting machine in our fleet we will work only during day time.

The workers who used to work during night will now work during the day," said a senior official of KMC's Drainage department.

Member of KMC's Board of Administrators Tarak Singh who is in charge of the Drainage department said that with the new lot of 74 machines there will be one dedicated machine for each of the 144 wards of the civic body.

"This will naturally boost the cleaning process of the manholes," said Singh.

The Drainage department of the civic body has also made plans to procure ten robots as part of a pilot project to clean up manholes.

"There are still some instances when we have to use manual scavengers for cleaning of manholes. Desilting machines cannot be used in very narrow lanes. We want to use robots for such places and put an end to manual scavenging," the official said.

The Supreme Court in September last year had slammed the Central government for not doing enough to prevent deaths of manual scavengers due to unavailability of protective gear. The apex court had observed that sewers in India were like gas chambers where manual scavengers were sent to die.

As per reports every month four to five persons are

losing their lives in manual scavenging. At least 1,470 manual scavengers died at work between 2010 and 2017.

"We take all sorts of precautionary measures when labourers enter manholes for cleaning but we still feel that it is inhuman and needs to be stopped," the official added.