Mechanical sweeping fleet to control dust on roads to be double, Delhi carved in three zones

Delhi's MCD has launched a ₹1,415-crore mechanized dust control program to deploy electric road sweepers and water tankers, aiming to reduce pollution.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has rolled out its ₹1,415-crore mechanised dust control program and invited bids to hire three operators to deploy 70 electric mechanical road sweepers, electric water tankers and dust dumping vehicles to reduce road dust, officials said.

Mechanical sweeping fleet to control dust on roads to be double, Delhi carved in three zones

As part of the project, MCD has divided the city into three sectors, with each sector comprising four zones to be managed by a designated operator for 10 years, they added.

Officials said that currently, the civic body operates 58 mechanical road sweepers (MRS), and the new units will more than double the mechanical cleaning capacity. “Delhi has been divided into three packages, and bids have been invited for all of them. Each operator will oversee dust control measures using a new fleet of MRSs, dust dumpers, and water sprinklers. The bidding process is likely to be completed by the end of May, with the MCD targeting to operationalise the fleet before winter,” an official said

According to officials, each of the three sectors will comprise four zones. The South, Najafgarh, West and Central zones have been grouped into one package, covering the areas under the former South Corporation. The second sector comprises Keshavpuram, Rohini, Narela and Civil Lines, while the third sector will cover City Sadar Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Shahdara South and Shahdara North.

“This is the first time we are progressing from petrol and diesel-run mechanical sweepers to electric ones,” the official said, adding that future procurements will be electric vehicles.

Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said that ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office in Delhi, the MCD has been receiving higher allocations from the government and securing funds for various additional projects. “This project is backed by financial assistance of ₹1,415 crore from the Delhi government. We have already invited tenders for this initiative,” Singh added.

According to MCD data, Delhi has 3,500 km of roads (30–60 ft wide) suitable for medium-sized MRS units. Currently, the MCD’s fleet of 58 mechanical sweepers is deployed on PWD roads, leaving smaller lanes to be cleaned manually.

Notably, the Delhi government announced the project to mechanically clean Delhi roads in January 2023. However, over the last three years, procedural delays and initial disputes with the local body over road transfer have marred the project.

The plan initially ran into trouble over handing the roads over to PWD as the previous Delhi government desired. Former municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, in a report, had flagged that the “handover will lead to legal and financial complications as MCD was already under contract with private agencies for clean-up and mechanical sweeping of these roads.

Dust is one of Delhi’s biggest sources of air pollution, contributing up to 25% of the Capital’s poor air quality, 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 efficacy and transparency of even existing operations have recently been questioned by municipal councilors in recent standing committee and house meetings. Councillors had claimed that the claims of dust clean-up (150 tons per day) were grossly exaggerated.