The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has decided to add more suction cum jetting machines in its fleet which will reduce the civic body dependency on the human labours, employed to enter the gutter and clogged drains in unhygienic and inhumane conditions for cleaning it at the risk of their life.
With this, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) now has 22 such machines. The move is considered important as despite the ban on manual scavenging in India, many cases of deaths were reported in the national capital last year due to manual scavenging.
A senior SDMC official said these machines will have the tank capacity of 8000 liters and divided into separate fresh water tank and sludge tank.
The official said the machines will be deployed to clean the drainage network that often gets clogged with household waste, garbage and construction debris. He further said the storm water drains that get choked during monsoon will be cleared soon to avoid water logging that is also a source of mosquitos breeding,” he said.
He said jetting pressure is used for flushing and de-chocking of drains and culverts to ensure smooth flow whereas suction effect is meant for an immediate relief during rains and also for the purpose of sucking slurry/sludge from the drains even during regular activity.
Chairman of Standing Committee of SDMC Shikha Rai will flag off these machines for south and central zone on Friday.