JOIN USFew takers for vacuum cleaning of roads
Spick and span roads in the national capital continues to be a distant dream with few takers for the Delhi government tender inviting private players for vacuum cleaning of road dust.
In the absence of eligible local companies coming forward, the Aam Aadmi Party government is trying to attract service providers from countries like Britain, Germany and Italy.
“Three attempts have been made but no Indian bidder could qualify for the tender,” said a Public Works Department official, adding that the preparations have started for issuing a fresh tender now.
The Arvind Kejriwal government made an ambitious announcement in the Budget for 2016-17 on vacuum cleaning 1,260 kms of roads under the PWD. The government blueprint involves spending Rs 1,500 crore over the next five years on vacuum cleaning.
The PWD has about four machines at present to clean select stretches of busy roads. The concept is based on the practice followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council which already uses such truck-mounted dust sweepers in central Delhi.
Stiff qualification terms
However, the plan, initially scheduled to be executed from May 1, has suffered delays due to stiff qualification terms.
“One option before us is to reduce the minimum annual turnover of a bidder to qualify for the tender,” said an engineer, adding that relaxation in tender terms were being considered to help foreign firms apply.
PWD Minister Satyendar Jain has also invited suggestions from officials on the possibility of the department buying imported machines and carrying out the cleaning with its own staff.
The tender process saw a few Indian firms apply for taking up the work in Delhi but most them lacked experience to execute large projects.
Eco-friendly initiative
Officials said the plan is not only to get road dust removed through vacuum machines
but also get the service provider to spruce up the pavements, beautify the central verges and clean and repair service lanes.
Vacuum cleaning is being seen as an environment-friendly initiative to curb fine suspended particulate matter (PM10) linked to road dust.
“The bald patches along the city’s roads are also planned to be covered with greenery in the form of shrubs and trees to reduce dust in the air,” said an official.
While manual sweeping is not possible on busy roads, there are also disadvantages of this old practice as it kicks up fine particles in the air, a senior PWD official said.