The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has issued an order to form a seven-member panel to expedite the implementation of a project to mechanically clean the 1,400-km arterial road network in the Capital.
The ambitious project, under which scrubbing and dust control measures will also be undertaken, was initially announced by the erstwhile Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi in January 2023. However, the proposal has been marred by procedural delays, including a dispute with the local body over the transfer of roads.
On April 2, the engineering wing of MCD ordered the formation of the committee to expedite the work on the request for proposal (RPF) document, stating that “elaborate discussions on the project have already taken place”.
“The said committee shall keep the cabinet note decision number 3132 dated April 4, 2023 and subsequent amendment in focus while finalising the said document (RFP document),” the order issued by the office of additional commissioner (engineering) stated.
Delhi has a 1400-km network of roads with a width of 60ft, and MCD operates 52 mechanical road sweepers on them.
A senior MCD official said the AAP plan initially ran into delays over the handing over of roads to the Public Works Department (PWD). The former municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, in a report dated April 16, 2023, had flagged that the “handover will lead to many legal and financial complications” as the civic body was already under contract with private agencies for the clean-up of these roads, and noted that the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act mandates roads cleaning to be an obligatory function of the corporation.
“The plan was later modified and it was decided that project will be executed by MCD instead, and that the mechanical capacity of the civic body will be ramped up to ensure 100% maintenance of these roads,” the official said, on condition of anonymity, adding that MCD is expected to source around 15,000kl of treated water to clean up these roads.
The project to clean the roads was stuck in the planning stage for the last two years, till the Delhi cabinet on April 4 approved a proposal by the environment department to purchase 70 mechanical sweeping machines to remove dust on bigger roads, that are maintained by PWD. It also decided to purchase 250 water sprinkling machines fitted with anti-smog guns.
Mayor Mahesh Kumar did not respond to queries seeking a comment on the development.
The committee has further recommended that the Delhi government proposal, which was only to sweep the central carriageway (excluding footpaths and central verges) be expanded to ensure “wall to wall cleaning”.
“MCD staff carrying out manual sweeping on PWD roads will be utilised for other civic body roads, where mechanised sweeping is not feasible,” the official quoted above said.
