Govt’s ambitious vacuum cleaning road project set to receive another push
13 Oct 2016 12:16 AM GMT
The proposal to mechanically sweep the city’s dusty roads was announced last December as part of a clutch of decisions by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governemnt to put a check on the alarming levels of air pollution.
In fact, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had inaugurated a greening drive and vacuum cleaning on April 1 and had tweeted that all PWD roads in the city would be mechanically sweeped in "two months".
"But the project never took off as envisaged as there were a few takers for the government tender, inviting private players. Primarily because greening and beautification of roads were also clubbed
in it," government sources said here.
There are a few companies in this sector, who have equal expertise in sweeping as well as greening and beautification, which explains the tepid response, they said.
Another issue that cropped up was related to the dumping of the collected dust. The municipal corporations, that run the landfill sites in the national Capital, "refused" to absorb the dust, the sources said.
However, a South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) functionary rejected the claim, saying that the onus was on the government.
"They never sought permission to dispose dust at those sites. Still we provided them with an alternative land at Sarai Kale Khan, which they never used. The contractors used to dump dust at the nearest dhalao and we never objected to it," said Shailendra Singh Monty, chairman of the SDMC standing committee.
Now, a fresh tender is being drafted, where the sweeping and beautification components have been separated and the loose ends are being tightened.
"The PWD will expedite proposals already under consideration in the department for vacuum cleaning of dust from the roads in Delhi. The agencies are to be appropriately identified and the target date for starting vacuum cleaning of dust from roads shall be 01.04.2016," read a government statement, dated December 4, 2015.
It is learnt that the government is open to domestic as well as international bidders. The question of whether to hire these machines or go for outright purchasing is also being mulled over.
A comprehensive Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur study on Delhi's air quality had identified road dust as the biggest source of suspended particulate matter in the city's air, pegging it at 38 per cent.
Around 1,280 km of the city's total road length comes under the local Public Works Department as it is responsible only for roads which are more than 60-ft wide.
The rest comes under the purview of the civic bodies.
For a cleaner capital
Govt sources said the project never took off as there were a few takers for the govt tender, inviting private players. Primarily because greening and beautification of roads were also clubbed in it.
Kejriwal had tweeted that all PWD roads would be mechanically sweeped in “two months”.
Another issue that cropped up was related to the dumping of the collected dust. The MCDs, that run the landfill sites, refused to absorb the dust.
Now, a fresh tender is being drafted, where the sweeping and beautification components have been separated and the loose ends are being tightened.
It is learnt that the government is open to domestic as well as international bidders. The question of whether to hire these machines or go for outright purchasing is also being mulled over.
An IIT-Kanpur study on Delhi’s air quality had identified road dust as the biggest source of suspended particulate matter in the city’s air, pegging it at 38 per cent.
Around 1,280 km of the city’s total road length comes under the PWD.
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