In a significant step towards enhancing urban water management and cleanliness, Autocracy Machinery supplied two of its state-of-the-art Rudra AquaMax 13M5T Dual-Purpose Weed Harvester cum Trash Skimmer machines to the Irrigation & Flood Control Department, Government of Delhi, for deployment at Najafgarh Drain near Punjabi Bagh Pul.
The inauguration was attended by Hon'ble Minister Shri Pravesh Sahib Singh, Minister of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Hon'ble Member of Parliament Smt. Kamaljeet Sehrawat representing West Delhi and Hon'ble MLA Shri Kailash Gangwal of the Madipur Assembly Constituency, alongside senior government officials and community representatives. Their collective presence at the site reflected the seriousness with which this deployment is being treated at the institutional level.
The Najafgarh Drain has been carrying the weight of west and southwest Delhi's drainage requirements for decades. What was designed to move water efficiently through the city has, over the years, become increasingly compromised by persistent accumulation of water hyacinth and invasive aquatic vegetation, layers of floating solid waste, and silt deposits that have built up steadily along the drain bed.
The consequences of this deterioration are most sharply felt during the monsoon season. Reduced carrying capacity leads to slower water movement through the system. Blocked sections cause overflow into surrounding areas. Neighborhoods experience waterlogging that persists well beyond individual rainfall events. Manual cleaning operations have been deployed repeatedly but have proven insufficient to address the volume and pace of accumulation that the drain experiences on an ongoing basis.
The deployment of the Rudra AquaMax 13M5T is a direct operational response to these conditions. It brings mechanised, high-capacity cleaning capability to a waterway that has outgrown what manual methods can manage.
The Rudra AquaMax 13M5T is a self-propelled dual-purpose machine built on a catamaran-based floating platform, engineered for simultaneous aquatic weed removal and floating trash collection across shallow and deep water bodies including urban drains, canals and under-bridge sections.
At the core of its cleaning capability is a dual cutting system that combines vertical and horizontal blades, working together to break through dense aquatic vegetation at and below the water surface in a single pass. The cut material is collected and transferred continuously through a stainless steel honeycomb conveyor system with roller chains into an onboard storage compartment with a capacity of approximately 14.68 cubic metres per operational cycle. That storage volume allows the machine to sustain extended cleaning runs across long stretches of waterway before returning to unload, which keeps operational interruptions to a minimum and maximises productive cleaning time on the water.
Powered by a 112 HP diesel engine, the machine travels at a sailing speed of 5 to 7 kilometers per hour and delivers cleaning output that substantially reduces manual labor requirements and shortens the time needed to address large-scale weed and waste accumulation. Real-time HD camera surveillance and GPS tracking are integrated into each unit, giving department officials continuous visibility into machine location and operational status without requiring physical supervision at the site throughout the working day. When unloading is required, waste is discharged at 1.7 meters above the water surface, allowing direct transfer to shore-based transport vehicles efficiently and without additional handling.
The machine is developed and manufactured by Autocracy Machinery, a Hyderabad-based Indian company specializing in water body restoration and environmental equipment. It is built under the Make in India initiative and designed specifically for the operational conditions that urban drainage infrastructure in Indian cities presents, including variable water depths, high vegetation density, and the spatial constraints of working within developed urban environments.
Autocracy Machinery's senior leadership attended the event, a presence that reflects the company's investment in the operational outcomes of this deployment rather than simply in the transaction of supplying equipment.
CEO and Co-founder Santhoshi Sushma Buddhiraj stated at the event, “Cleaner water systems are essential for sustainable cities, and we’re committed to making that a reality through innovation.”
CTO and Founder Laxman Vallakati articulated the broader intent behind the company's engineering work. He stated, "This is not just machinery, it’s a solution designed to transform how cities manage waste in water bodies.”
Both statements point to a company that measures the value of its work by the outcomes it produces in the field, not by the technical specifications of the equipment alone. The Najafgarh Drain deployment is, for Autocracy Machinery, a practical demonstration of what that orientation toward real-world impact looks like in operation.
The two Rudra AquaMax 13M5T units now deployed at Najafgarh Drain are expected to deliver measurable improvement in water flow through the drain, a reduction in pollution levels, and strengthened preparedness for the monsoon season that lies ahead. The April deployment window gives the department several months of operational time before peak rainfall places its annual demands on the drainage system, creating a genuine opportunity to address the accumulated weed and waste loads that have built up over time.
Department officials have indicated that the results produced by this initial deployment will inform decisions about extending the programme to other drains, canals, and water bodies across Delhi. The objective is to move the city's approach to urban waterway maintenance from periodic reactive intervention toward a consistent, technology-supported programme that maintains drainage infrastructure at a functional standard through every season.
