Sweeping machines handed over to road infrastructure wing

Following allegations of mechanical sweepers not being put to good use, BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad has handed over control of the machines to the road infrastructure wing. In a circular issued on Saturday, the Commissioner said centralised monitoring will enable better and effective utilisation.

There was much debate about the 26 mechanical sweepers in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) recently in the council. They were earlier under the control of the different zones and were deployed to clean 1,400-km of arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city, which fall under the road infrastructure wing. “Many major roads cut across 2-3 wards/zones. With these machines under zonal control, there were some lapses,” the Commissioner acknowledged, and added that each machine was supposed to clean a stretch of 40 km a day, which was not happening.

He also said there was a need for more mechanical sweepers. Many councillors had alleged that the truck mounted machines were inferior to the self-propelled sweeping machines. Mr. Prasad said the pros and cons of both types would be examined, following which tenders would be floated again. “Earlier too, a committee had been constituted to examine the type of sweeping machines to be used. We procured truck mounted machines based on the committee’s recommendation,” he said.