New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is suffering from a shortfall of 60 mechanical road sweeper (MRS) machines to control dust pollution in the Capital, it informed the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) in a review meeting on Monday, officials aware of the matter said.
Officials said they are in the process of procuring 18 MRS machines under the National Clean Air Programme, and are in the process of filling the shortfall by requesting funds under multiple state and central schemes. Currently, the civic body operates a fleet of 52 MRS machines for cleaning arterial roads having a width of 60 feet, and sanitation staff for manually cleaning roads having a width of 12 feet.
A senior MCD official said that around 150 tonnes of dust is collected daily by the fleet and dumped at landfills in Okhla and Bhalswa, besides dumping construction and demolition (C&D) waste at Shastri Park. “A meeting was held by the ministry of housing and urban affairs on Monday to review the progress of air quality management. We are targeting to have a fleet of 112 mechanical road sweepers to ensure that 6,730 lane kilometres are swept on an alternate-day basis. Each MRS unit covers 30-35 kilometres of lane length per day and MCD has estimated a shortfall of 60 units,” the official, requesting anonymity, said.
Dust is one of the biggest sources of pollution in Delhi, and can contribute to as much as 25% of the Capital’s bad air, according to a 2018 source apportionment study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Dust-related pollution shows up as elevated levels of PM10 (particulate matter having a diameter of 10 microns or less). The study also found that potholes, unpaved roads and broken footpaths, all of which cause road dust, were the largest PM10 contributors. PM10, which is a heavier particulate matter, cannot travel far and severely affects the lungs, causing various respiratory diseases.
To be sure, a requirement for MRS units has been presented to MoHUA to clean the arterial road network. Around 1,400km of roads under the Public Works Department (PWD) have a width of more than 60 feet and span around 7,000 lane-kilometres. A one-kilometre road having two lanes will be counted as two lane-kilometres for cleaning.
“Currently around 1,660km of road length is swept mechanically , at an average of 30-35km per day and main emphasis have been given in the hot spot areas. As per direction from CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management) under Grap (Graded Response Action Plan) stages 3 and 4, the time of deployment of these units is increased from eight hours to 10, and then to 12 hours,” the official said.
Officials said that they are waiting for approvals to procure 18 machines under the NCAP. These would be deployed to cover arterial roads spanning 15,582 roads, having a width of 12 feet and above, where 57,000 sanitation workers are carrying out manual sweeping, collecting 8-12 tonnes of dust every day.
Delhi on Tuesday had an average AQI of 327, with PM10 being the primary air pollutant.
The civic body also outlined other measures to tackle dust. According to an MCD report, 62 challans amounting to ₹44 lakh were levied on properties of 500sqm area for failing to meet dust norms. Another 912 challans amounting to ₹1.28 crore were levied against properties below 500sqm.
Also, 130 water sprinklers have been deployed, covering 1400km per day, and 106 designated C&D waste collection sites have been designated.
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