Will small EV-sweepers keep the narrow lanes of the Bengaluru market clean?

In November 2024, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) announced that the civic body would purchase 86 small battery-powered mechanical sweepers to clean narrow streets in the city’s crowded markets and commercial streets to reduce dust. Although several residents were skeptical about the use of these sweepers, solid waste management experts, shopkeepers in market areas and consumers welcomed the move.

Truck-sized channels are available

The BBMP currently uses 25 heavy truck sweepers to clean the inner roads at night. Currently, large machines, cleaning machines are used only in arterial and sub-arterial arteries.

However, these machines cannot navigate the narrow streets of commercial areas like Old Pete’s area, Shivajinagar, and other market areas in the city, where mechanical sweeping has long been a necessity to reduce dust accumulation. Accumulation of dust on the median lines due to heavy traffic was also not properly addressed.

To address this limitation, the State government has sanctioned funds under the Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants for the purchase of battery-operated electric sweepers with a capacity of less than two cubic meters. BBMP issued 86 tenders for these combined electric sweepers and tenders were called twice.

These new mini-sweepers are expected to be easy to control and efficient in cleaning confined spaces such as footpaths and sidewalks, thus contributing to a clean and healthy city environment.

The BBMP is in the process of finalizing the details of these machines and has floating tenders for its procurement. The civic body hopes that the project will improve air quality and also improve the overall cleanliness of the city.

More than seven crores

Talking to A HinduBasavaraj Kabade, the chief engineer of BBMP’s Solid Waste Management (SWM) division said that these machines will help in controlling cleanliness in crowded and busy areas.

“About R7.5 crores have been allocated under the 15th Finance Commission Grants and we have called for tenders. EV-sweepers are bought to be used mainly in very congested commercial areas with narrow lanes like Commercial Street, Church Street, KR Market, Gandhi Bazaar and other such areas. The machines will be used at night as sweepers the size of trucks, as the market places are not crowded at night and will look clean throughout the day,” he said.

“The existing truck sweepers are 10 cubic meters and can handle a lot of dust but they cannot travel on narrow roads. However, EV-sweepers as big as a car or a small hatchback, can be driven around easily. EV-sweepers will catch dust of more than 0.5-1 cubic meters,” explained Kabade.

Reducing staff

Sarfaraz Khan, SWM expert, joint audit director of the Ministry of Cooperation and former joint commissioner of SWM Department of BBMP, said that BBMP’s initiative is good.

“It will play a major role in reducing dust and pollution in the city. Back when I was in BBMP, I had suggested that the city should have 100 sweepers. Most of the Pourakarmikas are in their 40s to 50s, and eventually, as the city grows, we won’t have enough workers to do the work. That sweeping of one person per day will require a lot of energy if my Pourakarmikas are done. At that time when we estimated the cost was close to R7.5 lakhs for a truck-sized sweeper, but Pourakarmikas’ salaries will go up to R30 lakhs per month,” he said.

“The most important thing is that the roads are not safe. Especially at night and early morning, with speeding cars and trucks it is not safe to let the Pourakarmikas do the work and put their lives at risk,” added Khan.

Vigilance is key

He pointed out that when the BBMP brought the truck-sized sweepers in the beginning, the authorities ensured that there was a camera installed in the truck, so that they could have pictures of the cleaned roads before and after it, with a time stamp. “It does not make sense that the BBMP just buys channels and gives them to a contractor. You need to have a GPS system, a mapping system, and software that shows how much sweeping the machine did that day, how much dust was created, where it was deposited and other information, all of which must be shared through a public portal or site,” explained Khan.

Dinseh Reddy, who owns a good shop in Gandhi Bazaar, said that although this initiative is appreciated, the BBMP will have to plan it properly. “Dust has always been a problem in markets, especially on small roads. We are forced to sweep and sprinkle water at least three times a day, to avoid dust entering the shops. These sweepers will definitely help us, as long as the BBMP plans properly,” he said.

Parking rules

He pointed out that although most shops close at 11 at night, most of the shop owners leave their cars or their carts on the streets all night, which may be an obstacle for the sweepers and they do not clean properly. “If strict traffic and parking rules are introduced, this will work very well,” explained Reddy.

Syed Saleem, who owns a cloth shop on Commercial Street, said the idea would work, if the lanes were cleared and free for the sweepers to walk. “Many roads have stalls, or carts or cars on the side of the roads, which are permanent. Even if the sweepers can navigate these narrow lanes, they will only clean the center of the streets, not the sides, where people live. If the BBMP can ensure that the sides of the roads are also removed, these sweepers will help many of us to have a clean environment,” said Saleem.

Two cleaning cycles

Subamma, a flower seller at KR Market says having sweepers only at night will not help. “We have seen these big machines clean and going around the market at night. But what does it mean to clean only at night? Most of the cargo at the market arrives early in the morning. At least until 11 am, the market has a lot of garbage and dust. If one round of cleaning can be done by the sweepers in the morning or in the afternoon, the routes will be clean and pollution-free until the next morning,” he explained.