MCG lays out clean air plan, to revamp 722km roads, boost public transport

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MCG has submitted an action plan to the Union govt to curb vehicular pollution and dust from roads and construction waste, while expanding public transport and urban infrastructure in the city. These include over 722 kms of road revamp by multiple agencies (over 600km for MCG), EV charging points, augmentation of city bus services to control vehicular pollution, additional sprinkling machines and mechanical road sweeping machines (MRSMs) and planting native Indian shrubs on unpaved surfaces.

The civic body set a target of completing the legacy waste processing by March 2028. MCG has also said 300 roads (over 3,500km) in the city will be made dust-free.

On Tuesday, the civic body presented an extensive annual action plan before Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, a substantial portion of which focused on road redevelopment to control dust pollution. Across agencies — including MCG, GMDA, PWD, HSVP, HSIIDC and NHAI — roads were identified for redevelopment under the Commission for Air Quality Management framework at an estimated cost of Rs 2,045 crore, with funds stated to be available.

Specifically for MCG, 611 km of roads are proposed for redevelopment at a cost of about Rs 571 crore during 2025–26, 2026–27 and 2027–28.

Detailed ward-wise timelines were shared, with dozens of road stretches scheduled for reconstruction, resurfacing or repair using bituminous macadam (BM), wet mix macadam (WMM), RMC, and IPB, many targeted for completion within 2026.

For example, in Nirvana Country, MCG proposed the redevelopment of a total of 3.5km of roads under its jurisdiction at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore, with the target year for completion set as 2027–28. In Suncity, MCG set a target to complete the redevelopment of two roads, one 9km long and another 2.2km, by 2026–27 at an estimated cost of Rs 3.5 crore.

In Sector 21, MCG will redevelop 10.5km of roads at an estimated cost of Rs 2.95 crore and will complete the work by 2025–26. Under pedestrian infrastructure, the city has around 253km of paved pathways, while another 130km are proposed to be paved, with phased monthly targets through 2026.

For dust suppression, the corporation assessed over 1,400km of roads suitable for mechanical sweeping.

However, a gap remains in the availability of machines. Against a requirement of 42 mechanical road sweeping machines (MRSMs), only 18 are available. MCG proposed the procurement of 20 additional large MRSMs and four medium sweeping machines at an estimated cost of Rs 29.6 crore, with funds stated to be available.

MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya told TOI, “I presented the city’s action plan that includes expanding paved pathways, enhancing green cover and strengthening solid waste and construction and demolition (C&D) waste management systems. We informed the minister that seven truck-mounted water sprinklers were procured, three will be added within a few more days and six more will also be bought, making it a fleet of 16 such sprinkling machines. Moreover, 30 tankers are currently being deployed for dust suppression through regular sprinkling.”

“The minister provided guidelines on executing horticulture works, with a specific emphasis on planting native Indian shrubs on unpaved surfaces to control dust. He also directed us to identify major traffic congestion points in the city and take targeted measures to address them,” he added.