Vijayawada: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has introduced a state-of-the-art amphibious dredger (Truxor T150) to remove plastic waste, silt, water hyacinth and debris from the Eluru, Bandar and Ryves canals here.
The technically advanced machine, known as dredge excavator, has amphibious undercarriages that allow their operations both on land and in water. This adaptability enables it to have easy access to locations such as marshlands, swamps and shallow water bodies, which are generally difficult for standard excavators to reach.
In a first for Andhra Pradesh, the VMC, in association with the state pollution control board, procured the `5 crore Truxor machine to carry out cleaning operations within VMC jurisdictions.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, VMC biologist Surya Kumar said this was the first municipal corporation in the state to acquire the machine. The new VMC chief, Dhyanachandra with government nod, procured the machine to reduce water pollution and clean the city's three canals.
“The machine is capable of cleaning water hyacinth, plastic and tree debris that fall into the canals from the canal embankments,” he said.
To collect the floating debris in the canals, a two-foot mesh is being erected across the three canals to capture waste. Later, the multi-purpose Truxor will be deployed to clear all floating debris, preventing waste from ending up in the sea, the biologist explained.
