Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi Friday flagged three major factors that needed maximum attention regarding the city’s air pollution problem which include illegal construction and demolition waste dumping, open biomass burning and the dust generated on roads.
According to the Mayor, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi every year undertakes various measures to curb pollution, and this time it has formed 372 surveillance teams of 1,295 officers, working day and night to monitor the situation.
Oberoi further said that 52 mechanical road sweeping machines are cleaning the city’s roads, while 195 water sprinklers and 30 anti-smog guns have been installed by the civic body under pollution mitigation activities.
She said that total road length falling under the MCD across the city is around 15,500 km, and a total of 57,000 civic body workers are involved in manually sweeping them.
She said zonal Deputy Commissioners have been appointed as nodal officers across the pollution hotspots, and apart from this, 612 sites registered with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee are also being monitored.
The Mayor informed that there are a total of 106 sites of the MCD designated for dumping the C&D waste, and out of these, 55 have been covered with barricading sheets, from where the waste is transferred to processing plants for scientific disposal, in a step to prevent pollution.
She further said the MCD as part of its routine work is filling up and repairing potholes, and the officers have also been issued directions to strictly comply with the guidelines of GRAP- II anti pollution plan which is in force across the city.
Oberoir has appealed to the public to be part of the anti-pollution measures, and requested the residents not to burn crackers during the upcoming Diwali festivities.
Speaking on increasing parking charges in Delhi, the Mayor said that discussions are going on, however she said that the civic body does not want to increase the charges and bother the residents of the city.