Delhi govt uses mechanised road sweeping to minimise dust pollution

In December, the mechanised road sweeping programme in Delhi, introduced to reduce dust pollution, covered 51% of the streets, according to the Delhi government.

This data was gathered between November 17 and November 25, as well as November 26 and December 6.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) cleaned 15,238.9 km of roads between November and December 6, compared to 9,513.6 km in November, 9,074 km versus 6,901 km in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and 3,219 km versus 2,340 km in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).

Compared to DSIIDC's 350 km of coverage in November, the mechanised road sweeping in December covered 550 km, 682 km, compared to DCB's 434 km in November.

Meanwhile, between December 6 and December 6, the use of water sprinkling tanks in the capital's most polluted areas increased by 65%.

A total of 1,134 mechanised road sweeping machines with water sprinkling facilities have been deployed across the city, according to a report by the Delhi government, to reduce dust pollution caused by manual sweeping.

In addition, 60 anti-smog guns have been installed, as well as 8,588 water tankers or sprinklers in the national capital.

Furthermore, until December 64,245 sites using diesel generator sets were inspected, with 48 found to be using the generators, 18 shut down, and a fine of 5.4 lakh imposed for failing to follow anti-dust pollution guidelines.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) banned diesel generator sets and ordered a fourfold increase in parking fees in Delhi-NCR in October. When the air quality fell into the very poor category, this measure was added to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

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