New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) As the capital braces for its peak-pollution season, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has deployed a specialised fleet of 28 mobile anti-smog guns (ASGs) and 167 water sprinklers as part of its winter action plan, officials said on Monday.
As preventive measures, the civic body has also installed 20 ASGs at key waste-processing facilities, including waste-to-energy plants, C&D (construction and demolition) waste plants, and dumpsites, besides 15 ASGs on high-rise municipal buildings to suppress airborne dust.
According to officials, besides mist spraying, the MCD is focusing on road repairs to target micro-dust emissions caused by damaged street surfaces.
“In a joint initiative with CSIR-CRRI, the civic body has procured 12,500 bags of ‘EcoFix’ material to carry out scientific pothole repairs, having already addressed 8,343 potholes covering 17,132 square metres between April and September 2026,” they said.
EcoFix is a rapid pothole repair technology developed using processed iron and steel slag aggregates. It can be poured directly into wet or water-filled potholes, requires no heating or tack coating for adhesion, and can handle vehicle movement immediately after application, an official said.
Further, tenders have been issued to resurface and strengthen 1,202 km of roads within the calendar year, with 745 km completed through September, officials said.
To enforce anti-pollution measures at ground level, 623 officers have been assigned to joint enforcement teams operating across all 12 zones and 250 wards.
These teams are tasked with checking biomass burning, illegal garbage dumping, unapproved fuel usage, and construction activities.
“They are also coordinating with district-level monitoring committees to execute targeted action across 46 identified pollution hotspots under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) guidelines,” the official said.
The civic body has also scaled up mechanised sweeping operations, deploying 66 mechanical road sweeper machines (MRSMs) on PWD roads wider than 60 feet.
These machines currently collect approximately 180 tonnes road dust per day across a 4,000-km running length swept on alternate days.
MCD is expanding this capacity by inducting 70 additional MRSMs — 55 electric and 15 CNG vehicles — along with 1,000 motorised litter-pickers through October.
In addition to dust control, the civic body’s plan incorporates greening initiatives and vehicular infrastructure. Between April and August, the MCD planted over 4 lakh saplings, including 1.26 lakh trees and 2.69 lakh shrubs, towards its 5-lakh annual target.
The corporation has also operationalised 530 electric vehicle charging stations and plans to add 79 new surface parking sites providing 6,453 equivalent car spaces (ECS) by this November. PTI VBH ARB
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