Gurgaon: A set of GPS shift reports covering 20 road sweeping machines in the city has raised serious questions about these machines’ deployment, and accountability and supervision of the corporation. An analysis of data from an overnight shift on Wednesday shows seven out of 20 sweepers recorded no movement, while the remaining 13 covered just 122.7 km between them during the 14-hour reporting window.According to MCG’s clean air action plan submitted to CAQM, it has identified a total of 404.6 km of road length suitable for mechanical road sweeping. Only four sweepers recorded operating durations exceeding one hour and five minutes. Only one of these four vehicles operated for as long as four hours and 15 minutes. The other nine logged between 22 and 51 minutes each. According to MCG officials, each machine is required to cover at least 30km daily at a speed of 3kmph to 5kmph.The data shows that seven vehicles (35% of the fleet) logged zero kilometre, zero trip and no operating duration. Vehicle bearing HR68C9664 operated for just 22 minutes, while HR68B8440 logged 26 minutes.GPS records show that one sweeping machine (HR68B2014) covered 47km in two phases. It began its first run at 9.19pm from Sector 47 and ended at 11.20pm near Block C2 on Ashok Vihar Phase 3 Extension, covering 10km in one hour and 47 minutes. It resumed work at 2.01am from Ashok Vihar Phase 3 Extension and ended the second run at 4.40am in Sector 47, covering another 37km in two hours and 28 minutes.In terms of distance, seven machines covered between 5.8km and 6km each, while six covered more than 6km. Of the six, one machine alone accounted for 47km. The remaining seven machines recorded zero km.“Since the machines are old, their suction capacity has reduced. The distance each machine can cover and the duration of its operation depend on several factors, including its condition, level of dust on the roads, road quality and traffic congestion,” said an MCG official.TOI had reported on Oct 16 that 10 of 24 machines were found parked at night in Sector 47 when they were expected to be deployed for dust sweeping. MCG officials had earlier said the city has a fleet of 24 sweeping machines. However, the civic body’s data for the Tuesday-Wednesday night shift listed only 20 vehicles.MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya told TOI that the corporation is working to improve the efficiency of its machines, most of which are old. “Their performance will be assessed by ICAT. Under the new tender, MCG plans to deploy the latest technology, similar to that being used by MCD,” he said.A private firm was recently given the work order for repair and maintenance of the machines for six months from Oct 1. The estimated project cost is Rs 6 crore.The civic body had given approval to a private firm in Sept 2019 to handle operations and maintenance of sweeping machines in the city for five years, up to March 31, 2025. The firm was later granted a one-year extension till March 2026. The civic body subsequently floated a tender to hire an agency for the same work for six months as a stop-gap arrangement.TOI had also reported in April last year that one of these sweeping machines operated for only 28 minutes on a particular day.
