Deccan Herald 13.08.2013
A street-smart way to keep the City clean
This could well be the panacea for the City’s
garbage ills. A group of seven technocrats has come up with three kinds
of vacuum cleaners, capable of handling various types of trash,
including sand and mud.
It took the technocrats just a
month and a half to come up with the vacuum cleaners, at a cost of Rs
two lakh. The cost has been borne by the seven individuals themselves.
The machines, referred to as ‘Streetvac,’ are of three different
varieties.
The ‘Streetvac with Brush’ and the ‘Streetvac Sweeper’
have the capacity to suck in 100 litres of garbage at a time. The
‘Streetvac Hopper’ can be mounted on various types of vehicles,
including tractors.
Apart from sand, these vacuum cleaners are
able to clear leaves and other debris, wet or dry, including water. All
the three weigh between 40 and 45 kg, but can be easily moved around as
they are fitted with wheels.
“We have been participating in
several clean-up drives for the last many years. We were alarmed at the
increasing pollution levels in Bangalore. As per the recent survey
report of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), 20 per
cent of the pollution in the City is due to road dust. One of the major
contributing factors to dust pollution is presence of mud on the
street. Hence, we felt the need to develop a vacuum cleaner,” said B R
Prasad, design head of Neosphere, a research and development company.
Tailor-made
The
vacuum cleaners have been tailored for Indian conditions. While the
regular household vacuum cleaners cannot suck in water, these machines
can do so without any blockage, say the technocrats.
Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and KSPCB. But there has been no
favourable response. We are planning to tie up with corporates and
like-minded volunteers in the coming days, who can support us and
provide us financial assistance,” said B Satish, another employee of the
company.
As part of the ‘Dhool Hatao’ campaign, volunteers from
Neosphere, with support from Canara Bank, will take part in the
cleanliness drive in which the newly developed vacuum cleaners will be
used. To start with, the Canara Bank Head Office-Town Hall Junction was
cleaned on August 12.
BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana told
Deccan Herald, “We are ready to buy them, provided the machines are
helpful and have good storage capacity. Once they demonstrate and we are
satisfied, we will be able to help them out.”