Delhi govt to clean 2,800km city roads daily, sets ₹1,487 crore for project

According to the masterplan, seen by HT, the city will be divided into three zones

New Delhi: The national capital will deploy electric mechanical road sweepers, litter pickers, electric dust dumping vehicles among other machinery to clean 2,800km of road everyday, according to the masterplan submitted by the Delhi government, officials said.

Dust is one of the biggest sources of pollution in Delhi (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

According to the masterplan, seen by HT, the city will be divided into three zones — North, South and East — and ₹564.6 crore will be spent on the North, ₹465 crore on the South and ₹385 crore on the East zone.

A senior government official said that around ₹1,487 crore will be spent on keeping the arterial road network of Delhi clean over 10 years. “In May 2025, the cabinet had approved ₹1,230 crore for this project under which diesel and CNG-based vehicles were to be procured. However, we will instead move to electric vehicles (EVs) with 70 electric mechanical road sweepers (MRS), six electric water tankers, 24 electric dust dumping vehicles, 140 litter pickers, among other machinery,” the official added.

These machines will be deployed across 1,410km of roads which are over 60-feet wide and maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD). “Global tenders will be issued for respective zones. We have set a target of cleaning a minimum of 2,800km lanes everyday; therefore, all PWD roads will be cleaned once every two days,” the official added.

Under the existing system, the 52 MRS units run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are deployed on PWD roads which are wider than 60ft. A senior MCD official said that PWD did not have its own MRS units, and MCD’s machinery was engaged in cleaning these roads

“For the project, 28 electric mechanical road sweeping machines will be deployed in the North zone, 23 in the South zone, and 19 in the East zone. After cleaning, 56 litter picker machines will be deployed in the North zone, 46 in the South zone, and 38 in the East zone to collect the dust and dirt. 24 dust dumping machines will also be purchased to dispose of the collected dust,” the official said.

“All machines will be electric so that they do not cause pollution. After cleaning the roads, water will also be sprinkled to ensure the roads are completely clean. Mechanical road sweepers, anti smog guns and water tankers will work in conjunction to ensure deep cleaning of the road,” official said.

Dust is one of the biggest sources of pollution in Delhi, and can contribute to as much as 25% of the Capital’s bad air, according to a 2018 source apportionment study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Dust-related pollution shows up as elevated PM10 levels. The study also found that potholes, unpaved roads and broken footpaths, all of which cause road dust, were the largest source of such particles in the air. The primary pollutant in dust is PM10, which is a heavier particulate matter and hence cannot travel far but severely affects lungs, causing various respiratory diseases.