Prayagraj: The Prayagraj Municipal Corporation is taking up massive cleanliness drives by removing about 10 to 15 tonnes of waste daily through skimmer machines from Ganga and Yamuna Rivers thereby actively realising the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have Swachh Bharat and keep the Triveni Sangam clean and pure.

The preparations for the world's largest event, the Maha Kumbh began nearly four years ago when the trash skimmer machine was installed. Initially, this machine removed 50-60 quintals of waste daily. After observing its effectiveness, the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation bought another machine about two years ago, which doubled the pace of cleaning the rivers.

The machines cleaning both rivers have a capacity of 13 cubic meters and cover a four km area in the river, from the Sangam to the boat club and beyond. These machines collect floating flowers, garlands, paper plates, incense wrappers, plastic, coconuts, and clothes, from the surface. The Municipal Corporation officials state that the waste collected by the machines is disposed off at a designated spot near Naini. From there, it is transported daily by trucks to a plant located in Baswar, where the waste is separated into coconuts, plastic, and other materials. The plastic is sent for recycling, while other usable materials are turned into compost.

A trash skimmer is used to collect floating waste from the surface of the water. This machine is employed to clean rivers, ports, and seas. It collects plastic, bottles, religious waste, clothes, metal items, offerings, dead animals and birds. It also helps in removing water weeds (water hyacinth). The machine has gates on both sides, with conveyor belts inside them. These gates hydraulically close to trap the waste. Once collected, the waste is transferred onto the conveyor belt. From there, it moves to an unloading conveyor belt, where it is disposed of.