Residents of the state capital will have to bear dust and pollution of manual mopping on roads till next month before sweeping machines are finally made operational.

Ranchi Municipal Corporation deputy municipal commissioner Shankar Yadav admitted to The Telegraph on Monday that it would take more time before the machines are deployed.

“The three road sweeping machines had arrived a few days back but are currently station at our MTS (mini transfer station) in Harmu. We cannot use the machines until we complete the protocols which include technical inspection by a competent government-recognised institution. It would take at least a week or so for inspection and only after a nod from the government institution we will apply for documentation of the machines including registration, insurance, etc,” said Yadav.

The RMC senior official said that a monitoring room near the RMC office near Kutchery was being set up.

“We have procured computers and other gadgets and will complete the set-up for monitoring of the sweeping machines within a week,” added Yadav.

A team from IIT Patna started technical inspection of the three machines on Monday, said a highly placed source in the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC).

The RMC inked an agreement in the last week of January this year with Delhi-based Lions Services Limited, whose GIS (global information system)-based mechanised sweeping project in Mohali (Chandigarh) has been established as an industry best practice by the Union urban development ministry, for starting the operation in important four-lane roads of Ranchi.

As per the agreement, the company was supposed to start using three sweeping machines from mid-February. The machines, each costing over Rs 1.5 crore, are imported from Germany. The two big mechanised sweeping machines with a capacity of 5 tonnes each will be used for four-lane roads and the smaller machine having capacity of 3 tonnes will be used for double-lane roads in different wards.

The mechanised road sweeping will see specialised equipment mounted on trucks to remove litter, loose gravel, soil, vehicle debris, animal excreta and pollutants from the road surface which had to be earlier done by manual mopping that not only disrupted traffic but also caused dust pollution.

“There are two primary benefits of the machines,” said an RMC engineering cell officer. “The more obvious benefit is the collection and removal of litter, leaves and other visible debris that collects in the gutters and catch basins and in the process blocks the bell mouths and other storm-water drainage facilities, causing localised flooding during rains. An equally important but less visible benefit is the removal of fine particulate matter and metal particles and other hazardous waste products. It will also clean the road without disrupting traffic and causing dust pollution as it will spread water on the road before mopping.”

The machines will also help in power scrubbing and cleaning of the road surface.

“Power scrubbing will quickly remove grime, grease and oil without damaging the road surface, something that is not possible in manual mopping, “ added the RMC engineering cell official.

Essel Infra had purchased one such road sweeping machine back in 2007-08 but it was discontinued after the vehicle developed technical snags.

For monitoring the operation of the machines, the service provider will be installing GPS (global positioning system) and CCTV cameras on all the trucks and officials will monitor the movement of the machines.