To curb rising pollution levels in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will soon add ten additional anti-smog guns for fine spraying of water, officials said on Friday. The truck-mounted anti-smog guns with a capacity to carry 10,000 litres of water, according to officials, will be the first in the city equipped with a 360-degree revolving mechanism.
₹12 crore was allotted to MCG to curb rising air pollution. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)” title=”According to officials, a fund of around ₹12 crore was allotted to MCG to curb rising air pollution. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)” />Sandeep Dhundwal, executive engineer at MCG, said that a work order for the finalised tender was issued in this regard to a private agency on October 25. “The 45-day timeline for the handover of anti-smog guns is expected to be completed soon. The machines will be delivered to us in batches, starting from the first week of December,” Dhundwal said.
According to officials, a fund of around ₹12 crore was allotted to MCG to curb rising air pollution. “Earlier, we had only five anti-smog guns to spray water across the city,” a senior MCG official said, requesting anonymity.
Among the five anti-smog guns, three are movable and the remaining two remain stationed in one place. “As part of water sprinkling measures, 35 rented tankers are being deployed on a designated route map, including red zones identified by MCG along with the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB),” Dhundwal added.
Officials said that sprinkling measures, which were recently intensified, mostly take place on all major roads, including Special Peripheral Road (SPR), Basai and Bajghera roads, from Hero Honda to Subhash Chowk, and on busy stretches, such as Golf Course Extension and Maidawas Road.
Under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap)-III, there must be daily water sprinkling on roads, especially before peak-traffic hours, along with the use of dust suppressants in Delhi-NCR. “Our sanitary teams on the ground have been directed to collect dust and dispose of it in designated sites or landfills,” another senior official said.