Overview
- An Indian Express data dashboard mapped a year of MCD GPS records and found uneven use of mechanical road‑sweeping machines (MRSMs), a finding reporters verified during two nights of on‑the‑ground tracking.
- The analysis showed much travel by MRSMs is non‑cleaning movement, only a minority of routes get most of the work, and breakdowns are common because many machines are near or past their 8–10 year lifespan.
- Drivers and sanitation workers described long eight‑hour night shifts with short breaks, cloth masks instead of proper PPE, frequent manual clearing and fatigue that affects both health and performance.
- MCD officials say tenders were floated to buy about 70 new MRSMs, that contracts will require 40 km of pure sweeping per eight‑hour shift, and that a new IT vendor plus IoT sensors and a public app will improve real‑time tracking.
- Despite the pledges, core operational limits such as poor road surfaces, on‑route dumping, travel to dumping sites and maintenance capacity remain unresolved and will determine whether the new machines and tech actually boost cleaning and worker safety.