New Town will now use robotics technology to clean the township's sewerage and drainage network.
According to the officials, it is the first such initiative in West Bengal.
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has bought three machines equipped with multiple sensors, cameras and robotic arms that can clean a manhole in 15-20 minutes, sources said.
Made by a Kerala-based company, each of these manhole cleaning machines costs over Rs 30 lakh.
The system is equipped with an extendable robotic arm that can perform tasks such as grabbing, shovelling and also unblocking clogged debris inside the manholes. The arm is suspended from a unit that has four legs and a control unit. A bucket system where the waste collected can be discharged has been also attached to the machine.
Across the city, urban local bodies are using more and more machinery such as truck-mounted suction jet systems to clean manholes.
A senior NKDA official said that as of now each action area will get one such machine.
In the run-up to the monsoon, the machines will be deployed primarily around stormwater drainage pumping stations.
This will be done in order to minimise the threat of waterlogging. Several places in New Town get waterlogged after heavy rains.
"These machines are able to perform deep cleaning tasks and are also able to hear through a network of debris if required. We have observed in the past that manholes in New Town often get choked by construction materials and plastic," said the official.
A representative from the manufacturer, Genrobotics, said the robotic arm had a fixed, waterproof, night-vision camera that transmits images in real-time to the operator.
There are sensors installed to measure different parameters such as the temperature, and humidity as well as the presence of any harmful chemicals or poisonous gases inside a manhole.
"Once any sort of harmful gas or chemical is detected the machine sounds the alarm for the operator to initiate proper action," the representative said.
