Machine used to clear immersion debris goes to Garden Reach
Times of India | 8 April 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has found an unexpected ally in a multi-purpose telescopic handler, a compact and agile payloader, which has proven invaluable in clearing the highly confined Azhar Mollah Bagan building collapse site in Garden Reach.
Previously, these machines were utilized to demolish illegal hawkers’ stalls in Gariahat and to lift idol structures onto trucks after immersion at Bajekadamtolla ghat last Nov.
“When these telescopic handlers were purchased, the idea was to get a nimble machine that was small and manouverable to work in tight spaces within the city to clear obstacles or structures. The KMC had procured eight such machines last year, primarily to clear idols after immersion and uprooted tree branches from the road after a storm. Carrying heavy building debris was not why they were bought. For that, we had heavy payloaders that are bigger in size. But after the Garden Reach building collapse, when we could not use the large machines, the telescopic handler was deployed and it has been doing the job since,” said a civic official.
With each telescopic handler costing Rs 50 lakh, the civic body had spent Rs 4 crore to procure the eight machines.
The telescopic handler’s four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer capabilities have made it effective in navigating the narrow and restricted space. The official said that the telescopic handler is assisting in loading debris onto mini trucks parked in the narrow lane. These vehicles then transport the debris to a designated site, from where the KMC’s solid waste management department transfers the waste to the demolition waste crushing plant at Rajarhat using larger trucks.
From the beginning, the KMC has been dealing with the challenge of limited space at the building collapse site. With five-storey buildings constructed in close proximity, rescue operations proved extremely difficult due to the lack of access roads for large equipment such as hydra cranes and big payloaders. This made the process of recovering bodies painfully slow, as the five collapsed concrete floor slabs had to be broken down into small pieces before being removed in mini trucks.
The small earth mover that the KMC brought in could only be deployed after some nearby huts were demolished to create manouvering space, allowing it to lift debris onto the mini truck. However, even this process has been painstakingly slow, as the operator must exercise extreme caution to avoid damaging any nearby structures.
The telescopic handler machine comes with various attachments, including a loader bucket for loading debris, C&D waste, and garbage; a crawler for quick removal of tree branches and wooden logs during natural disasters; a man lift platform for working at certain heights based on the boom length, such as removing billboards or performing electrical work; and a crane hook for lifting heavy loads for shifting purposes.