JOIN USThe Delhi government may introduce mechanical road sweepers in the PWD roads here if the project turns out to be a success in the NDMC area, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the six mechanical road sweepers on Kalibari Marg.
“If this new technology works out, it will be introduced on all the PWD roads which is a stretch of 1,260 km. We have filled all the pits in this stretch,” said Kejriwal.
As the level of pollution is high in the city, the introduction of mechanised sweepers is being looked upon as a big step to reduce the level of dust in Delhi.
“But no sweeper will lose his job because of the introduction of new technology. This system will help the existing staff in maintaining the hygiene level,” said Kejriwal.
“Several workers suffer from different health conditions while sweeping the streets clean,” the CM added.
Now, the major dirt can be cleaned by the machines and they can clean the roads off leaves or polythene bags
Currently, the council has deployed four road sweepers for major and colony roads stretching across 10,920 km and two road sweepers for lanes and cross-colony roads of 3,900 km.
The machines’ speed will be 5-10 km per hour and can cover 30 km a day. The machines will mostly operate in night shifts.
Till now, it was a problem deploying staff at night shifts to clean the streets, said a senior NDMC official, adding this will not be the case anymore.
The motorised system if replicated across municipal bodies will be a boost to the environment.
“The motorised sweepers are environment friendly. There is minimum chance of spreading, suspension and return of dry dust with this new technology. This will lead to a drop in dust pollution,” said Dharampal, acting chairperson of the NDMC.
The machines have wet cleaning system with sprinklers.
It also has a high suction system which ensures that little dust is left on the street.
Meanwhile, the state Environment Department has assigned a study to IIT, Kanpur to find out the various factors causing pollution in Delhi.