Chennai corporation to buy 10 drain cleaning equipment

Chennai: The corporation of Chennai will procure 10 super sucker-cum-jet rodding machines at a cost of Rs 16 crore and will hire another 25 on a fixed rent basis, according to officials.

 

The city corporation is making a concerted effort to put an end to manual scavenging as the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenge and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, warrants it.

 

On Tuesday, the civic body demonstrated the functioning of the equipment it has zeroed in on as replacement.

 

Procured from Delhi-based Hruday Infrastructure Pvt Ltd on a hire basis, the super sucker comprises two trucks – one powering the jet rodding machine and the sucking pump and another to collect the silt.

 

A 230 bhp engine powers the jet rodding pump which sprays water at a rate of 1,500 PSI. “Nearly all solid, liquid, plastic and metal waste will be loosened when water is sprayed at a surface with such force,” said Tarun Anand, Hruday’s technician.

 

“With the super sucker, not only is the work efficient but there is very little time required to clear the silt. Manual labourers used to drop the silt by the side of the road and then it was left to dry. No more of that mess with the super sucker,” said an official.

 

Operational costs, however, are bound to be high. Proposals have been readied for buying 10 machines but how many would be taken on a hire basis is yet to decided, officials said. The corporation maintains 1,850 km of stormwater drains in the city. Desilting of these drains is undertaken before every monsoon. With days left before the onset of north-east monsoon, desilting is yet to be completed and the situation is a worry for officials. On Monday, during the council, Mayor Saidai Duraisamy had promised to complete desilting work in two months.