Kathmandu Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya on Tuesday inaugurated five broomer machines brought from Italy. Representatives of all 32 wards of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City were present in the inaugural event.

The metropolis plans to deploy the new broomer machines in five different routes to clean the city roads.

The first broomer will set out from Teku and clean the streets of Kalanki, Tripureshwor, Jamal, Lazimpat, Maharajgunj and Narayangopal Chowk.

The second one will clean the Teku-Thapathali-Maitighar-New Baneshwor-Sinamangal road section. The third broomer will be deployed on the Teku-Putalisadak-Bhadrakali-Singha Durbar road section before returning to Teku through the Narayanhiti Palace-Keshar Mahal Chowk-Gairidhara-Baluwatar-Russian Embassy-Sheetal Niwas-Pani Pokhari-Sohrakhutte-Balaju route.

The fourth broomer will follow the route of Putalisadak-Kamal Pokhari-Gyaneshwor-Maitidevi-Purano Baneshwor-Sinamangal-Tribhuvan International Airport-Chabahil-Boudha, before returning through the Chabahil-Gaushala-Purano Baneshwor-Maitidevi-Putalisadak-Singha Durbar-Thapathali road section.

The fifth broomer will start from Teku and travel through the Tridevi Marga-New Road gate-Basantapur-Jamal-Keshar Mahal-Durbarmarg-Bhadrakali-Maitighar Mandala-Hanumanthan route. It will return to Teku via Thapagaun, Purano Baneshwor, Battisputali Chowk, Dillibazaar, Bagbazaar, Bhadrakali and Tripureshwor.

The machine, which can hold up to 500 litres of water, can clean 25,000 square metres of area in one hour, and its maximum speed is 42km per hour.  

The metropolis paid Rs108 million to the Italian company for the machines that will clean the roads at night.  

Addressing the inauguration programme, Mayor Shakya said the project started two years before he was elected as the head of the metropolis. “We tried our best to bring these machines, but due to bureaucratic hurdles we couldn’t have them on time,” said Shakya.

Lately, the Kathmandu valley has turned into a dust bowl owing to the ongoing construction works such as widening of roads, installation of drinking water pipelines for the Melamchi Water Supply Project, and reconstruction of houses and temples damaged in the 2015 Gorkha earthquake.

The metropolis deputes around 751 sweepers every day to clean the roads in Ratnapark, Lainchaur, Bagh Durbar, Old Bus Park, Putalisadak, Tripureshwor and Bhadrakali among other places.