New Delhi, Nov. 3 -- The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday began trial operations of battery-operated, vacuum-based litter picker machines in eight wards of the Central North Zone, also known as the Keshav Puram Zone, as part of its efforts to strengthen waste collection in congested areas and improve neighbourhood-level sanitation.
Under the project, the civic body plans to deploy 1,000 machines across all 250 wards of Delhi, with four machines allocated to each ward. The machines were inaugurated by the Chief Minister on October 17. Equipped with suction hoses, the machines are designed to collect lightweight waste, including plastic bottles, paper cups, wrappers and fallen leaves. According to the MCD, they will primarily be used in markets, public spaces, narrow lanes and busy commercial areas where large mechanised road-sweeping machines often face difficulties in accessing.
The trial operation in eight wards is expected to help the corporation assess the machines' effectiveness in improving litter collection in densely populated and congested localities before their wider deployment.
The initiative comes amid the civic body's broader efforts to strengthen sanitation infrastructure through mechanised cleaning and improve waste management across the Capital, particularly in areas that remain difficult to access using conventional equipment.
With four machines proposed for each ward, the project seeks to decentralise litter collection and supplement existing sanitation arrangements. However, its effectiveness will depend on the machines' regular deployment, maintenance and integration with the corporation's existing waste collection system.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.