In 2023, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) brought Pamtec's beach-cleaning machines to RK Beach as part of its Eco-Vizag initiative. Machines now handle the bulk cleaning and recovery of recyclables, while local crews handle edges and segregation. The beach is visibly cleaner, though untreated sewage outflow remains a separate challenge.

Why did RK Beach need mechanised cleaning?

RK Beach is the centre of Vizag's public life: morning walkers, families, festivals and tourists. That popularity brought three problems:

• A heavy daily litter load. Plastic, food waste and packaging built up along vendor areas and seating zones.
• Event surges. Festivals, gatherings and match days left concentrated waste that overwhelmed manual teams.
• Pollution from outside the beach. Sewage outflows and stormwater drains near the shore meant that a cleaned beach could be re-contaminated quickly.

Periodic clean-ups were not enough. The city needed reliable daily cleaning.

What were the goals?

• Consistent daily cleaning on the busiest stretches
• Recovery of recyclables such as PET and HDPE for the recycling stream
• Better working conditions for municipal cleaners, with less manual strain and more organised segregation
• Alignment with the city's Eco-Vizag and sustainability goals

How was it rolled out?

GVMC introduced Pamtec's machines as part of Eco-Vizag. The corporation leased a fleet of beach-cleaning machines and ran public trials on RK Beach in 2023, with civic leaders attending. It also procured an additional unit through local funding channels.

The machines sift sand to working depth, separate macro waste (bottles, glass, metal) and smaller debris (cigarette butts, shards, fragments) and return the cleaned sand to the beach without disturbing its profile.

The programme was a partnership between machines and people:

• Machines handled bulk cleaning.
• Manual teams handled edges and detail work.
• Sanitation workers (safai sathis) managed segregation.
• GVMC handled logistics and disposal.

What changed afterwards?

• Cleaner sand. RK Beach and nearby stretches, including Rushikonda and Bheemili, showed visibly cleaner sand, fewer plastics and better-kept promenades.
• Recovered recyclables. Routine runs recovered PET, HDPE, glass and metal, which fed into the local recycling stream.
• Lasting results after drives. Large volunteer events such as the August 2022 drive created momentum. Daily mechanised cleaning kept the beach at that standard once the volunteers had gone home.
• Less manual strain. Workers moved from repetitive raking to operating, supervising and segregating.

What did mechanisation not fix?

Sewage inflow. Untreated discharge reaching the shore remains a challenge that cleaning machines cannot solve. The RK Beach experience shows that beach cleaning works best alongside sewage treatment and waste-segregation infrastructure.

How was the story covered?

The trial and procurement were reported by outlets including the Deccan Chronicle and The Times of India, alongside coverage of the mass volunteer drives. Pamtec also published day-to-day updates and photographs from the beach.

What was Pamtec's role?

• Supplying beach-specific machines suited to Vizag's conditions
• Training GVMC staff and operators
• Guidance on daily and long-term maintenance
• Documenting progress publicly
• Supporting recycling-oriented waste handling

Frequently asked questions

What is Eco-Vizag?

Eco-Vizag is Visakhapatnam's civic cleanliness and sustainability initiative, under which GVMC introduced mechanised beach cleaning.

Did the machines replace sanitation workers?

No. Machines handle bulk cleaning. Workers still do edge cleaning, segregation and disposal.

What waste do the machines recover?

Plastic bottles (PET, HDPE), glass, metal, cigarette butts and smaller fragments.

Does mechanised cleaning solve sewage pollution?

No. Sewage treatment and drain management are separate infrastructure issues.

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