The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has launched three advanced robots called 'Bandicoot' to safely clean and maintain city manholes without workers entering the manholes.
This initiative will increase safety in manhole maintenance in the city using advanced technologies.
Manual scavenging requires people to enter manholes and physically clean them, and this practice has claimed the lives of many workers. To solve this problem, PMC is now using robots to clean sewers. This initiative provides safer and more dignified jobs for the sanitation workers as robotic operators with training and rehabilitation programs. The user interface of the Bandicoot Robot is developed for scavengers, which is interactive and easy to use and would also provide a dignified work profile for these workers.