Maharashtra govt plans to procure 100 robots for manhole cleaning

State Minister of Social Justice Sanjay Shirsat. File pic

Maharashtra Minister of Social Justice Sanjay Shirsat on Tuesday said that the state government will procure 100 robots for 27 municipal corporations for cleaning manholes. The announcement comes after the Union Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment commissioned a social audit of sanitation works that highlighted the state government's failure to address the deaths of sanitation workers.

An uncovered manhole. Representation Pic/istock

A Union government-commissioned social audit across Mumbai, Pune, Parbhani, Satara, and Shirur has exposed ‘critical failures' by authorities and contractors in protecting sanitation workers in Maharashtra, 18 of whom died between 2021 and 2024. According to the survey, safety protocols, protective gear, and emergency response mechanisms were largely absent.

Talking to reporters, Shirsat said, "We will first conduct a one-month trial with the new robot in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation. After successful testing, we will procure 100 robots."

He said the social justice department would supply the robots to the urban development department, which would then distribute them to the municipal corporations. "These new robots are indigenously made and more capable than the existing ones with low capacity. The ones we will procure will have a higher capacity for cleaning and waste segregation," Shirsat said.