Mira Bhayandar: MBMC gets 'Bob-Cat' lifter to clean-up beaches

In a major boost to the beach clean-up movement in the coastal belt of Uttan, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has got a powerful weapon in the form of a ‘Bob Cat’ sand cleaning machine. The twin-city is blessed with a coastline of around seven kilometres along the Arabian Sea including the Bhatte-Bunder and Pali beaches in Uttan which has become a tourist destination. 

However, unmindful of the thrash including -food leftovers, empty bottles and plastic bags littered by visitors, paint a very sorry picture with regard to the cleaning of the coast which at times turns out to be an eyesore.

 Presently the beaches are cleaned manually by social volunteers and sanitation personnel with the help of excavators provided by the civic administration. Having a price tag of Rs. 75 lakh, the “Bob Cat” machine has been handed over to the MBMC free of cost by the state government authorities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) aimed at keeping pollution levels at bay and restore a sound and balanced environment. “While, contractors appointed by the district collector office, will operate and maintain the machine, the role of the civic administration is to monitor and supervise the clean-up activities. The clean operations will be conducted for eight hours per day. As beach cleaning is a continuous process since garbage keeps coming back from the sea, we are contemplating to install GPS devices to ensure timely, proper and transparent functioning,” said deputy municipal commissioner- Ravi Pawar. 

The “Bob Cat” machine can lift a layer of sand from six inch below the surface, segregate even the smallest waste material and relay the sand with the help of specially attached interchangeable sieves. The operator cabin is armed with joysticks and hydraulic controls to adjust the speed, working depth and discharge system with utmost accuracy.