As dust fails to settle, city motorists battle traffic chaos, allergies

Corporation’s mechanical sweepers prove inadequate

July 29, 2019 01:09 am | Updated 01:09 am IST - CHENNAI

Chennai: 21-07-2019, For City: MTC Mini Bus stoped between Thiruvanmiyur Kottivakkam, Palavakkam to Enjampakkam Clay bad road after Metro water pipe laying work at Canal side Road. Photo: M. Karunakaran

Chennai: 21-07-2019, For City: MTC Mini Bus stoped between Thiruvanmiyur Kottivakkam, Palavakkam to Enjampakkam Clay bad road after Metro water pipe laying work at Canal side Road. Photo: M. Karunakaran

Two-wheeler riders going to work will tell you that they either cover their face with a mask or always carry a face wash to avoid inhaling dust from the road.

“I keep washing my face and hands. The helmet provides safety as well as protects my head from dust. Though I am used to the dust now, it is a cause for concern for many. I know of friends who have frequent dust allergies,” said G. Ramakrishnan of Besant Nagar.

Motorist N. Ramesh Babu, who frequents the Perambur Barracks Road, said the stretch looks dirty and needs cleaning using better equipment.

Several roads in the city have a thick layer of dust along footpaths and medians due to constant movement of vehicles. With the increase in the number of vehicles and several ongoing construction works along roads, the amount of dust has been increasing by the day. And after the rain, it has only become worse.

Rise in pollution

Data from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) shows that PM10 (particulate matter of size above 10 microns) in the ambient air hovers around 100 microns/cubic metre, the permissible limit. On some days, however, it goes above the mark, and in July-August, when the city gets windy, more dust is swirling around.

“Dust is caused due to various factors, including burning on streets and in land fills, improper sweeping and vehicular emissions. Heavy trucks carrying sand and dusting of cement bags at construction sites are also causes,” said K. Karthikeyan, former member secretary, TNPCB.

Various agencies, including the Chennai Corporation, the Highways Department and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), clean roads in and around the city.

In the core city area, mechanical sweepers of the Corporation have proved to be inadequate to clean the roads. As a result, several of the 471 bus routes in the city remain untidy.

Expensive cleaning

Corporation officials said 387 km of bus routes in the city were being cleaned by mechanical sweepers that cost ₹53 lakh each. The city requires at least 48 mechanical sweepers to clean its bus routes. But the Corporation uses only 16 mechanical sweepers to clean important bus routes and arterial roads.

“We have provided at least four mechanical sweepers for each of the three regions in the city. The equipment will clean dust of 60 micron thickness along stretches that are untidy. The mechanical sweepers clean just one kilometre of road every hour. We cannot use the mechanical sweeper during the day. Frequent accidents were reported because of the equipment during rush hour. So we use them only at night,” said an official.

The Corporation gives priority to mechanical cleaning of roads used by VVIPs. The cost of cleaning a road using a mechanical sweeper for one hour is ₹1,200. “Other advanced technology will increase the cost by 30%. So we clean roads using the mechanical sweeper every week,” said an official.

However, Egmore MLA K.S. Ravichandran said most roads in his constituency were not cleaned properly.

“The Corporation cleans the EVR Periyar Salai using a mechanical sweeper once in seven days. Residents have been requesting the officials to clean stretches such as the Perambur Barracks Road, Ritherdon Road, Alagappa Road, Pulianthope High Road and Basin Bridge Road properly,” Mr. Ravichandran added.

Pointing to a decline in manpower of the Corporation, he said: “The Corporation does not have manpower to sweep all roads. We have a shortfall of at least 30 workers in many wards. Some wards have just 70 workers instead of 140 to clean roads.” Of the 19,182 conservancy workers in the city, just 30% sweep the roads. Most temporary workers are senior citizens and are paid wages daily.

The Highways Department has 256 km of roads under its control and it deploys labour teams and contractual staff to sweep them. The NHAI has a similar system. However, road users say the roads and flyovers are also dusty and need frequent cleaning.

“If there is construction work going on, for instance a flyover, then that stretch is hardly maintained. There is dust flying everywhere and the road surface is also damaged,” said Mothi Chandrika, a resident of Gopalapuram.

Health problems

Dust entering the human body causes allergies in the nose, sinus, eyes, bronchus and skin.

R. Sridharan, asthma allergy specialist, said he comes across patients of all ages with such problems. “As a preventive measure, I ask patients to use pollution masks, avoid perfumes and not stand near smokers since that would lead to passive smoking. I myself take the train to work,” said the doctor, who runs the Asthma and Allergy Resource Centre in Mylapore.

“To reduce road dust, proper sweeping of roads at regular frequencies, reduction in burning of waste, laying of proper roads and closing trucks carrying construction material is a must,” said Mr. Karthikeyan. He emphasised the need to reduce vehicle exhaust and carbon in tyres.

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