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Delhi Govt Plans To Use Mechanical Cleaners To Remove Dust From Roads

Delhi Govt Plans To Use Mechanical Cleaners To Remove Dust From Roads
In this Monday, March 24, 2014 photo, traditional black-and-yellow licensed cabs stand parked waiting for customers at a railway station in New Delhi, India. Most licensed taxis are banned from having air conditioning under an archaic municipal rule, leaving passengers suffering with rolled-down windows in suffocating heat and noxious pollution. Taxi-hailing smartphone app Uber is making a big push into Asia with the company starting operations in 18 cities in Asia and the South Pacific including Seoul, Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong and five Indian cities in the last year. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
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In this Monday, March 24, 2014 photo, traditional black-and-yellow licensed cabs stand parked waiting for customers at a railway station in New Delhi, India. Most licensed taxis are banned from having air conditioning under an archaic municipal rule, leaving passengers suffering with rolled-down windows in suffocating heat and noxious pollution. Taxi-hailing smartphone app Uber is making a big push into Asia with the company starting operations in 18 cities in Asia and the South Pacific including Seoul, Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong and five Indian cities in the last year. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

NEW DELHI — To reduce air pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government is planning to make all the city roads dust-free through mechanical cleaning and planting of grass along the roadside.

According to the government, dust is one of the major factors for increasing air pollution in the city. Around 38 percent pollution is caused by dust.

Taking a serious note of the dust pollution, National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 9 also ruled that dust emissions from construction sites will be completely controlled by all authorities.

"The government is very serious about the increasing level of dust in the city. We have prepared a plan to decrease air pollution, according to which we will make all 1,200 km roads of Public Works Department (PWD) dust-free by mechanical cleaning.

"Within next three months, mechanical cleaning of PWD's roads will begin," said PWD minister Satyender Jain.

As per government officials, around 78 per cent of the pollution is caused by vehicles, out of which 38 percent pollution is due to dust.

By these steps, more than 27 percent air pollution could be decreased, they said.

Jain said, "dust remains suspended in the air because of continuous movement of vehicles on the city roads and to adopt a permanent solution for this problem, we have decided to plant grass along roads."

The government also plans to repair all broken footpaths, the minister added.

Concerned over increasing air pollution, the National Green Tribunal recently ordered to ban all diesel-run vehicles which are more than 10 years old.

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