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GUWAHATI: GDD Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya on Tuesday inaugurated the first-ever sewage cleaning robot in Guwahati.
The manhole-cleaning robot named 'Bandicoot' has been procured by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) under the CSR initiative of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) along with six Skid Steer Loaders (mini loaders) from JCB and six Backhoe Loaders from CASE and BOBCAT companies each.
After Gurgaon and Coimbatore, Guwahati will be the third city of the country to use this semi-automatic robot which is expected to put an end to human scavenging while keeping city drains clean and free from water loggings. GMC Commissioner, Devajit Hazarika said that several parts of the city were submerged despite the corporation workers having cleaned the drains before the downpour.
He also requested the residents and shopkeepers not to throw plastic bags on the roads and drains It is to be mentioned that there are 330 drains in Guwahati under the GMC. However, there are many more drains which fall under the jurisdiction of the Railways, Oil India, Oil refinery, NHAI the PWD.