New Delhi: An assessment by Commission for Air Quality Management has found that mechanised road sweeping machines (MRSMs) are used to clean only 35-40% of Delhi’s large- and medium-sized roads on an alternate basis against the prescribed norm of covering the entire road network.Delhi has nearly 100 MRSMs against the required 172. In recent meetings, CAQM has repeatedly asked road-owning agencies to use these machines to lift road dust and reduce its resuspension.A senior CAQM official said MRSMs are used to clean roads with a length of about 15,000km. However, a four-lane road has to be cleaned four times, leading to an increase in the total number of kilometres that have to be swept in a day. A machine is used to clean up to 30km in a day as opposed to the requirement of 40km.“Around 70% of Delhi’s total network has roads less than 10 metres wide, which are currently manually swept. The remaining 30% are large- and medium-sized roads. Of these, 35-40% are cleaned using MRSMs on alternate days,” said the official.The machines do not operate on roads that are encroached upon or have vehicles parked illegally. Experts have been demanding that in association with residents and traders, provisions should be made to ensure there is no obstruction on such stretches during cleaning by machines.Dust is a major source of pollution during both summer and winter. A 2018 joint study by The Energy and Resources Institute and Automotive Research Association of India said dust accounts for 42% of PM10 and 38% of PM2.5 pollution in Delhi during summer. In winter, its contribution drops to 25% of PM10 and 17% of PM2.5 pollution.In Feb this year, CAQM issued technical and operational norms for deployment and utilisation of MRSMs. It said an MRSM should be able to operate for at least eight hours on shifts, with the schedule declared in advance for convenience of the public. CAQM specified that large-size and medium-size MRSMs should be able to cover a distance of about 40 running km during an eight-hour shift while a small-size MRSM should cover a distance of 20 running km during a similar shift. In Sept, Delhi govt approved the procurement of 30 smaller EV-based MRSMs to clean narrower roads.Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at Centre for Science and Environment, said mechanised road sweeping machines have a moderate impact on dust pollution as they primarily lift coarse particles.“They are, however, more effective than manual sweeping, which causes greater resuspension of dust. A major issue with these machines is the lack of clarity on how many have been deployed in pollution hotspots,” she said.Roychowdhury added that the machines are ineffective on roads with potholes or unpaved surfaces and should, therefore, be used alongside a proper road redevelopment programme.An MCD official said, “MRSMs are deployed on roads with right of way (ROW) greater than 60 feet. MCD is procuring 70 MRSMs for roads with ROW more than 30 feet. Narrow roads are swept manually through a fleet of about 60,000 safari karamcharis.”There was no immediate response from PWD.
