The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) recently conducted an extensive inspection of 125 road stretches in Gurugram maintained by the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) to assess road cleaning, sweeping operations and compliance with dust mitigation measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

A total of 17 inspection teams—15 from the Haryana State Pollution Control Board and two from the Central Pollution Control Board—covered road stretches across residential colonies, internal roads and arterial corridors. Geo-tagged and time-stamped photographic evidence was collected and submitted as part of a consolidated report.

The inspection revealed high visible dust levels on 34 road stretches, moderate dust on 58 stretches and low dust on 29 stretches, while only four stretches showed no visible dust. Several locations with high dust levels also had significant accumulation of municipal solid waste and construction and demolition waste, along with instances of open burning.

CAQM observed that these findings point to serious gaps in routine road maintenance, waste management and field-level enforcement. The Commission directed MCG to strengthen on-ground measures, including regular mechanical sweeping, timely lifting and scientific disposal of waste, effective water sprinkling and strict prevention of open burning.

The Commission reiterated that enforcement drives under ‘Operation Clean Air’ will continue across the NCR to ensure strict adherence to statutory directions and GRAP measures, with the objective of achieving cleaner, dust-free road stretches in the region.