The Times of India         20.11.2013

Sweeping gadgets to clean up Rajarhat

KOLKATA: When it comes to developing infrastructure, Rajarhat New Town has led the way over the last decade or so. But as a collateral damage, the township has suffered air pollution that rose to an alarming level in last few years. The authorities have finally taken note of the rising menace and decided to introduce mechanical sweeping gadgets to prevent the accumulation of dust at construction sites.

"Besides installing mechanical sweeping machines, we have also decided to have manual sweeping in places," said Hidco chairman and managing director Debashis Sen.

After holding a meeting earlier this week, the Hidco and New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) engineers also went to the engineering wing of the Kolkata municipal corporation (KMC) to collect information on the matter. The authorities will formulate a strategy within next seven days.

The KMC had a few German-made machines that automatically clean streets and sucks accumulated dust particles into it. "Now, such machines are manufactured in the country. We are trying to use those machines," said an official. The plan is to use these machines at places where massive construction works are going on.

Dust pollution reaches an alarming level in Rajarhat mostly with the onset of winter as the humidity level declines and the soil surface dries up, resulting in increased suspended particulate matter (SPM). The density of dust particles gets higher at construction sites. The dust particles form a visible layer in the air, particularly during the evening.

In a survey that was conducted some years ago by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, it was found that the SPM level in areas where construction work is on is almost five times higher than the permissible limit.