A newly designed high-power water jet and grabbing device meant to clean sewers in narrow streets, commissioned by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), was a winner in the Centre’s Urban Sanitation Technology Challenge on Monday.
More than 150 of the devices are expected to be on the streets of the Capital by January, stated the makers of the device.
The awards, presented by the Urban Affairs Ministry on World Toilet Day, were meant to recognise technological innovations to avoid human entry into sewers and septic tanks, thus helping prevent manual scavenging.
“A big problem in many parts of Delhi is that the streets are too narrow for big sewer cleaning machines. So the DJB sent us a problem statement, and we have come up with this new device,” said Ganesh Parhad, a design engineer with KAM-AVIDA, which won the award. The high-velocity jet has a water capacity of 1,500 litres. It also includes a grabbing mechanism to clean clogged sewer lines.
While one pilot device has been tested in Paharganj to ensure that it would work on narrow streets, the DJB has ordered a total of 155 such devices, which will be delivered early next year. Representatives of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water and Sewage Board and Chennai Metrowater, which were also bagged award for their sewer-cleaning systems, were seen making enquiries about the device at the event.
₹25 lakh each
The machines cost ₹25 lakh each.
In the category of septic tank cleaning, the winner was Hoolock Technologies, which developed a type of double boosting pump which can be used to create sufficient pressure to clean tanks without human entry.
Delhi took the decision to completely mechanise its sewer cleaning system in August 2017, in the wake of outrage over ten deaths of manual cleaners in the span of just five weeks. More than a year later, complete mechanisation is yet to be completed partly due to court cases contesting the decision to give former manual scavengers preference in mechanised cleaning contracts, and also because of difficulty in finding and adapting machines that are suitable for the city’s needs.
Social Justice Minister Ramdas Athawale released new standard operating procedures for sewer and septic tank cleaning, which stipulate the precautions that must be taken by sanitation workers. These procedures are, however, not legally enforceable.
Liability is one of the pivotal ways through which manual scavenging prohibitions can be enforced, said Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, noting that the State has begun holding employers and not just contractors liable for sewer deaths in the Capital.
