MCD to appoint expert for road sanitation work in Delhi

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi plans to hire a consultant for ₹62 crore to help mechanically clean and scrub 1,400km of arterial roads in the city. The consultant will be responsible for dividing the roads into zones, preparing estimates, finalising bids, and overseeing the project's implementation over the next 10 years. The project aims to achieve 100% wall-to-wall mechanical sweeping of roads and improve sanitation services in the city. The total expenditure over the next decade is estimated to be around ₹19,466 crore.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is planning to hire a consultant to help the civic body execute the ambitious project to mechanically clean and scrub 1,400km of arterial road network — which caters to 70% of the city’s traffic volume — in the Capital, according to MCD officials aware of the matter. The consultant, officials added, will be hired for ₹62 crore for a period of 10 years.

The civic body currently has a fleet of 52 mechanical road sweepers, while the city’s inner colony road network (5-60ft) is cleaned daily by 50,000 sanitation workers. (HT Archive)

The proposal to mechanically clean these arterial roads — with a width of 60ft or more — was initially announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in January. Thereafter, then finance minister Kailash Gahlot, in his Budget speech delivered in March, announced that the project would be carried out by PWD, which then got transferred to MCD in July.

A senior MCD official overseeing the project said that the background preparations have been completed and the bids to hire a project management consultant (PMC) will be invited next week. “This week the PMC tender will be floated which is likely to cost ₹62 crore. The consultant will work with MCD for 10 years and initially will help us divide the 1400km arterial roads into various zones and packages for which the cleaning work will be outsourced,” the official explained.

The consultant will help the civic body subdivide areas, prepare estimates for the machinery and manpower, help set up project reports, finalise bids, and oversee the project’s implementation over the next decade.

The scope of the project includes 100% wall-to-wall mechanical sweeping of roads, cleaning of vegetation and construction waste, washing of footpaths, removal of surplus earth and sweeping dirt from central verges, and cleaning of bell mouth and channels.

“The resources in terms of mechanical road sweepers and anti-smog guns will be ramped up at a massive level. Our mandate involves no dirt, municipal waste, or C&D waste on these roads,” the official added.

Gehlot, during the Delhi Budget, had announced a ₹2,034 crore outlay for the project, to be carried out by PWD, while the anticipated expenditure over the next 10 years will be around ₹19,466 crore.

Cleaning up the Capital and giving it world-class sanitation services was one of the 10 guarantees issued by the AAP in the run-up to the MCD polls last year.

After Gahlot announced that PWD would take up the mechanical cleaning of Delhi’s arterial road network, the Delhi cabinet on April 4 approved a proposal by the environment department to purchase 70 mechanical sweeping machines to remove dust on roads maintained by PWD. However, municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, in an April 16 report, flagged that PWD taking up road cleaning will lead to many legal and financial complications, as the civic body has signed a contract with private agencies to clean these roads. Subsequently, proposals related to the transfer of cleaning services were kept twice in the House and it was decided that MCD will execute the project.

MCD occupies an area of 1397.3 sqkm which is sub-divided into 12 zones — Centre, South, West, Najafgarh, Rohini, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, SP-City, Keshavpuram, Narela, Shahdara North and Shahdara South. The civic body currently has a fleet of 52 mechanical road sweepers, while the city’s inner colony road network (5-60ft) is cleaned daily by 50,000 sanitation workers.