CAQM flags high dust on 15 road stretches after inspection

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has identified 15 road stretches across Delhi with high levels of visible dust, following its latest inspection under Operation Clean Air, the commission said on Wednesday.

The exercise, carried out on December 8 by 22 flying squads, covered 79 stretches, maintained by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), in the Rohini zone.

Teams also revisited roads under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) jurisdictions that were checked earlier.

According to the CAQM, geo-tagged and time-stamped photographs were collected to document the condition of each site.

Of the 79 stretches inspected, 15 showed high dust, 36 moderate levels, 22 low levels and 6 had no visible dust, the commission said.

The DDA recorded the highest number of problem spots. Of the 57 stretches checked, 12 were found with high dust and 27 with moderate levels. The DMRC had no stretch in the high-dust category, while the DSIIDC had three.

Flying squads also reviewed earlier sites under MCD and NDMC to check progress. The commission noted a nearly 50 per cent reduction in high-dust stretches under the MCD, but 18 of the 35 re-inspected roads remained in that category. NDMC’s single re-inspected stretch continued to show high dust.

“Road dust remains a major contributor to particulate matter levels in Delhi. Agencies must ensure regular mechanical sweeping, proper disposal of collected dust and maintenance of road shoulders," CAQM officials said.