The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is bringing artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and digital platforms into urban sanitation work under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Three Indian cities are leading this transition with concrete technology deployments that make waste collection cleaner, safer and more efficient.
Key facts
- Raipur has launched a digital Faecal Sludge Management dashboard based on the UPYOG platform, allowing residents to book desludging services online
- Thiruvananthapuram deployed G-SPIDER, an AI-powered robot developed by Genrobotic Innovations, to clean the Amayizhanchan Canal
- Guntur city operates over 200 electric autos for door-to-door waste collection, eliminating 71,000 litres of diesel use annually
- Chennai has deployed 5,478 battery-operated e-rickshaws across 15 zones, reducing daily carbon emissions by 41 tonnes
- Indore operates 100 electric vehicles with 20 solar charging stations generating 800-1,000 units of green energy daily
- Indore expects annual savings of Rs 5.97 crore in fuel and maintenance costs
Digital service delivery in Raipur
Raipur Municipal Corporation has replaced in-person office visits with an online system for septic tank cleaning services. The Faecal Sludge Management dashboard, built on the UPYOG platform developed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the National Urban Digital Mission, allows residents to request desludging services, make payments and track progress from home.
The process simplifies citizen access. A resident enters a mobile number or property ID, the system locates the address automatically, and a single-page form books the service. Once submitted, the request becomes trackable in real time. Service workers upload photographs after completing the job, enabling digital verification. The dashboard also helps the municipal corporation monitor its vehicle fleet and plan resources more efficiently, reducing wait times and eliminating the need for residents to visit the municipal office.
Behind this convenience, the system supports a shift from manual to mechanised sewer cleaning. Digital monitoring encourages safer work practices by reducing direct human exposure to hazardous environments.
AI robot enters hazardous canal spaces
Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation has deployed G-SPIDER, an AI-powered robotic system, to clean the Amayizhanchan Canal where conventional cleaning methods are impossible. The canal section beneath the Thampanoor railway premises has restricted vertical clearance, continuous water flow and no safe entry points for workers.
G-SPIDER uses machine vision and sensor intelligence to detect and remove waste in real time. Its five-degrees-of-freedom mechanism features a biomimetic claw designed to pick up mixed and irregular debris. The robot adapts to different waste types and water flow conditions without human workers entering the confined space. Extracted waste transfers directly into collection vehicles.
The deployment prioritises worker safety by eliminating exposure to toxic gases, contaminated water and hazardous waste. The robot can operate during high water levels when conventional cleaning would be dangerous. Thiruvananthapuram’s approach is designed to be scalable for other high-risk canals and drainage networks across Indian cities.
Electric vehicles reduce waste collection emissions
Three cities are replacing diesel-powered garbage trucks with battery-operated vehicles. Guntur’s fleet of over 200 electric autos eliminates 71,000 litres of diesel consumption annually and is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21,000 tonnes over ten years. Each vehicle has GPS tracking for real-time monitoring.
Chennai’s Greater Chennai Corporation operates 5,478 e-rickshaws across all 15 zones, each travelling approximately 40 km daily. The fleet reduces daily carbon emissions by 41 tonnes, equivalent to 15,160 tonnes annually. Each vehicle carries separate bins for wet, dry and hazardous waste, integrating segregation into the collection process. Audio systems on the vehicles broadcast waste-segregation messages to neighbourhoods. The initiative employs over 6,000 people and covers 24,621 streets and more than 2.1 million households.
Indore has integrated renewable energy into its electric vehicle programme. The city operates 100 electric vehicles with GPS tracking through its Integrated Command and Control Centre. It has established 20 solar charging stations with 10 kW solar panels each, generating 800 to 1,000 units of green energy daily. The city expects to reduce annual carbon emissions by 24,918 tonnes and save Rs 5.97 crore annually in fuel and maintenance costs.
What this means for you
If you live in Raipur, you can now request septic tank cleaning online without visiting the municipal office, track the service digitally and receive confirmation through photographs. Residents in Guntur, Chennai and Indore benefit from cleaner air as electric waste collection reduces local pollution. Employment opportunities have expanded in waste collection sectors, particularly in Chennai where the e-rickshaw initiative supports over 6,000 jobs. Reduced emissions contribute to lower greenhouse gas concentrations affecting everyone’s environment. The shift from manual to mechanised work in hazardous spaces means sanitation workers face lower health risks.
What happens next
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs plans to expand these technologies to more cities. G-SPIDER’s deployment in Thiruvananthapuram is intended as a model for replication in other cities with high-risk drainage networks. The focus remains on taking digital dashboards, AI-powered cleaning systems and electric waste collection to additional urban centres across India.