Kolkata: To fight air pollution in winter, KMC on Friday announced the allocation of around Rs 100 crore to the solid waste management department to buy self-propelled road-sweeping machines, battery-operated mechanical sweepers, litter-sucking machines and water sprinklers in its budget for the financial year 2026-27.While the self-propelled road-sweeping machines will reduce dust on congested roads, battery-operated sweeping machines will be used on narrow stretches. KMC has already bought 20 self-propelled road-sweeping machines and some of the 20 mechanical sweepers, ordered for. The civic body now has six road-sweeping machines but they are reportedly less efficient. An official said initially 20 such machines each were being bought for 16 boroughs and more would be ordered, depending on the efficiency. He said the large, self-propelled, road-sweeping machines would be deployed in the more air-polluted zones, such as BT Road, Shyambazar Five-Point crossing, APC Roy Road, C R Avenue, J L Nehru Road, Park Street, Camac Street, Asutosh Mukherjee Road, Hazra Road, Rashbehari, Gariahat, D H Road and Jadavpur. Explaining the need for electric mechanical machines, the official said, “The numerous lanes and bylanes of Kolkata cannot be swept with road-sweeping machines. Those stretches are manually swept with hand-held brooms, which often results in inefficient sweeping and accumulation of garbage, impacting public health and the environment.”Litter-sucker machines would be suitable for markets, bus stops and parks, said an official.
