Chennai’s Robotic Sanitation Model Inspires a National Shift
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) marks one year of Bandicoot Mobility+ robots deployment, reflecting a new era for the city in safety, efficiency, and sewer maintenance humanely. Since the robot’s introduction in April 2024, sanitation operations across Chennai, especially complex underground drainage systems, have drastically improved, successfully cleaning 5,000+ manholes and stormwater drains. The robot is developed by national award-winning Kerala startup Genrobotics and represents India’s commitment to leveraging advanced robotics for social transformation and addressing long-standing public health and human rights issues.
The Mobility+ variant comes with a vehicle-mounted system for easier transportation even in congested urban areas. With features like waste storage unit, automatic dumper, and stabilizing mechanisms, the entire process is seamless and hygienic, requiring no human intervention inside the manhole. In addition to real-time camera monitoring, gas detection, and contactless waste collection and disposal, the system ensures safety and operational efficiency.
Against this backdrop, Rashid K, Co-founder, Genrobotics, stated, “What Chennai has achieved is not just about using robots to clean manholes—it’s about bringing dignity, safety, and innovation into sanitation. Bandicoot, the world’s first robotic scavenger, was fully developed in-house in India—built from scratch to solve the real issue of manual scavenging.”
After its successful rollout, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has announced plans to adopt Bandicoot robots for drain cleaning in Bengaluru, and CMWSSB is also looking to expand robotic operations, mainly for monsoon, into more city zones and scale up preparations.
Image Source: Genrobotics