MCD to launch drive to mitigate dust pollution in city

Delhi's Mayor Shelly Oberoi announced a drive to tackle dust pollution and garbage across all 250 wards, urging citizen cooperation ahead of the festival season.

New Delhi

The Civic Centre in New Delhi. (File)

Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Tuesday announced that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is set to launch a drive to mitigate dust pollution in the city, adding that the initiative seeks to make all 250 wards of the city free of garbage and debris, offering citizens a cleaner and more beautiful environment as the festival season approaches.

“Delhi faces two major problems--garbage and construction and demolition (C&D) waste. A common practice is that garbage bags are dumped anywhere, such as in street corners, beside parks, or back lanes which adds to dust pollution and contributes to higher AQI levels,” Oberoi said.

The mayor said that the civic body has established several C&D waste collection sites at designated junior engineer (JE) stores. “A special campaign is being launched under which deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners of all 12 zones of Delhi will inspect their designated zones and wards daily. Additionally, all 250 wards’ JE maintenance, sanitary guide, sanitary inspector, and ASI (assistant sanitary inspector) will submit certified reports daily from their designated wards and certify that their ward is free from debris,” she said.

“I also seek cooperation from the people of Delhi. It is also the citizens’ responsibility, as part of the community, to keep their area clean. It is our collective responsibility to ensure the cleanliness of Delhi, especially during the upcoming festival season when pollution remains an issue,” she added.

AAP councillor and leader of the MCD house Mukesh Goyal said the daily submission of reports will provide a clear picture of how much debris exists in a particular ward. “Instructions have been given to properly manage construction materials like gravel or sand left on streets, which cause dust and pollution. We will not tolerate any laxity in this regard,” he added.

Responding to the development, leader of the opposition in the MCD house and BJP councillor Raja Iqbal Singh said the AAP-led corporation has “miserably failed” on the issue of providing a clean and pollution-free city.

“The responsibility for sanitation in Delhi lies entirely with the Aam Aadmi Party, and they are now trying to shift this responsibility onto the people of Delhi. After being inactive all year, they have suddenly woken up and become concerned about the city’s sanitation and pollution,” he said.