Unable to buy machines, govt puts off road vacuuming byaweek
Tenders have not met PWD's brief for multipurpose machines that will also water plants ROAD VACUUMING WAS ANNOUNCED AS A WAY TO CONTROL DUST WHEN DELHI'S
POLLUTION SPIKED
NEW DELHI: The Public Works Department (PWD) did not start vacuuming roads as it could not buy the machines, despite deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s promise that all major roads would be machine-cleaned every week starting Friday.
The department faces problems finalising tenders. The deadline for the road vacuuming machine tenders has been pushed to November 18, PWD secretary Ashwani Kumar said.
“We are checking the authenticity of the bidders by the earnest money deposits (EMD). The deadline for the tender was November 10, but we had to move it to November 18,” said Kumar.
When pollution levels spiked in the Capital last week, Sisodia announced a slew of measures to control it, vacuuming of roads every week being one of it.
Water sprinkling to control dust, outdoor air purifiers, and mist fountains were other measures announced. Sisodia had said the vacuuming of roads would start from Friday.
A shortage of companies supplying such machines is a major problem in making road vacuuming a routine in the city, senior government officials said. “Road vacuuming is still a new concept in India and that is the reason why there are fewer players supplying and making these. Gradually the system will build up,” an official said.
A source apportionment study of pollutants in Delhi’s air, by IIT Kanpur last year, says 38% of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), and 56% of PM 10 (particulate matter finer than 10 micrometers in diameter) in the air, is because of road dust.
Delhi government first announced mechanical sweepers for road vacuuming in April. Six machines were hired. However, after six months, they were returned.
“Several tenders were floated but we did not receive any response. The initial brief was that the company provide us with a multi-purpose machine which could do the functions of road repair, vacuuming and also water the plants on the kerbs. But that was not met,” the official said.
PWD sources said potholes and uneven road surface posed problems to vacuuming roads.
ROADBLOCKS FOR MACHINES
Delhi govt launched six mechanical sweepers in April to control road dust
Machines were to be used on arterial roads
They couldn’t be used on uneven roads
After seven months of its launch, sweepers rolled back Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia, reintroduced plan in the wake of spike in Delhi’s pollution levels At present, only NDMC uses mechanised sweepers
PWD road vacuuming was planned in Mathura Road, Rao Tula Rao Marg, Nelson Mandela Marg, Dwarka Road
Water sprinkling to control dust, outdoor air purifiers, and mist fountains were other measures announced
Road dust is the source of 38% of PM2.5 and 56% of PM10 in the air, an IIT Kanpur study says