Manholes in Panipat to be cleaned by robot

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, July 13

Manholes in the industrial area will now be cleaned with the help of ‘Bandicoot’, a robot. The Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) made the robot operational in Sector 29 part-1 here on Saturday.

Harpal Dhanda, elder brother of the minister Mahipal Dhanda attended the ceremony. Dhanda also inaugurated two deep tubewells.

‘Bandicoot’, specifically designed by Genrobotic for sewer tank and manhole cleaning, is equipped with advanced features that enable it to navigate and clean sewer lines efficiently. The introduction of the robot would help end manual scavenging, which poses severe health risks to sanitation workers.

The robot’s design encompasses high-definition cameras, robust arms for debris removal and high-tech sensors for navigation, said Gauri Shankar, regional manager, Genrobotic. He said the robot could bear a weight of around 125 kg of garbage and silt.

Shree Bhagwan Aggarwal, president, Industrial Estate Association Sector 29 part-1, took up several demands with the minister’s brother, including the widening of the main road from NH-44 to Flora Chowk. One side of the road was constructed five years ago but the other side still awaits overhauling. Aggarwal brought up the problem of streetlights, and stormwater drain among others with Dhanda.