E-Paper
East MCD launches 50 water-sprinkling and sucker machines to fight dust pollution
New Delhi
New Delhi
In a move to reduce pollution levels, Member of Parliament (MP) and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday flagged off 40 water-sprinkling tankers, and two super-sucker, six suction-cum-jetting and four auto-mounted litter-picker machines.
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had commissioned these machines that were purchased with funds allocated under the Urban Development Ministry’s Swachh Bharat Mission.
The cost of one water sprinkling system with a capacity of 9,000 litres is Rs 24.40 lakh. More than 50 such machines have been notified as being operational.
“Water sprinkling tankers will be helpful in curbing the spread of dust on roads, lowering the level of dust pollution. Suction-cum-jetting machines have been deployed to clean the drains that are often choked with household waste, garbage and construction material,” an EDMC spokesperson said.
The civic body said induction of such machines would help in curbing dust particles in the air and pollution.
Dust -- believed to be carried by winds from the deserts of Rajasthan to Delhi -- remains one of the biggest causes of pollution in the Capital. The IIT (Kanpur) ‘Air Pollution Source Apportionment’ study done for Delhi in 2016 had attributed 26-27 per cent of pollution in the city to ‘soil and road dust.’
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said that since the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan(GRAP) by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA ) the civic body had intensified its efforts to curb violations.
The corporation had, in the last two days, issued fines for burning of solid waste, garbage, dry leaves, and plastic, rubber and construction activities.
A total 134 challans amounting to Rs.6.05 lakh had been issued in all four zones of SDMC during night patrolling under the Solid Waste Management bylaws of Delhi and ‘Construction and Air Pollution’ under NGT Act..
