Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) standing committee Friday approved a project worth over Rs 900 crore for deploying 70 mechanical sweeping machines on MCD roads, along with a proposal to fill 1,066 vacant posts in its public health department through contractual appointments to strengthen the fight against dengue, malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
The department has 14 vacant posts of anti-malaria officers, 105 of malaria inspectors, 398 of assistant malaria inspectors and 549 of MTS (public health), taking the total number of vacancies to 1,066. The committee also approved a project worth approximately Rs 923.6 crore for deploying 70 mechanical road sweeping machines on MCD roads. In another decision, Sharma directed officials to develop rainwater harvesting facilities in at least one park in each of the 250 MCD wards, in addition to existing operational facilities.
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Standing committee chairperson Satya Sharma said the department plays a crucial role in preventing, monitoring and controlling infectious and vector-borne diseases in the city. “Making regular field inspections, surveillance, larval testing and public awareness campaigns essential to control mosquito-borne diseases,” she said. Sharma said the project aims to reduce dust accumulation on roads and particulate matter generated by vehicular movement.
The proposal seeks to address the shortage of field staff responsible for inspecting mosquito-breeding sites, eliminating breeding sources, conducting anti-larval operations, fogging and monitoring vulnerable areas. Smaller-capacity machines will be electric, while larger-capacity machines will have the option of operating on either electricity or CNG. Concerns were also raised over roads being dug up by different agencies without proper permission or coordination. Download the TOI App.
The machines will be used for road cleaning over the next 10 years to reduce dust pollution. Under the first package, work for 29 machines has been awarded to an agency at a cost of Rs 369.5 crore. The second package, covering 28 machines, has been approved at Rs 368.8 crore, while the third package for 13 machines has been approved at Rs 185.2 crore.
The project has been divided into three packages.