Bhopal To Get 10 Electric Road-Sweeping Machines Worth ₹50 Lakh Each; Trial Run Begins

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The roads in the state capital will soon be cleaned using electric road-sweeping machines with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) beginning a trial run of the first machine.

The trial, which was to start from September 5, was conducted on Monday due to rain. The civic body plans to deploy 10 electric road-sweeping machines across the city.

Each machine is estimated to cost Rs 50 lakh, of which nearly Rs 25 lakh is the cost of the battery.

Although each machine has a claimed range of 150 km on full charge, the operation of brushes and pumps reduces its effective range to 60 km.

To avoid breakdowns during operations, BMC plans to run each machine for about 40 km a day.

With 10 machines, the fleet is expected to cover nearly 400 km of roads daily, helping expand mechanical sweeping beyond major roads to residential colonies.

The Public Works Department maintains around 3,200 km of roads within BMC limits. The civic body currently spends nearly Rs 10 crore annually on road sweeping, largely due to fuel expenses.

Officials said the new electric machines were more compact than existing road sweepers, allowing them to operate in narrower roads and interior residential areas.

The machines are reportedly being procured using funds received under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Of Rs 30 crore allocated to BMC under the programme, Rs 2 crore have been earmarked for electric sweeping machines.