Delhi govt wants dust mess along Outer Ring Road sorted out within the week

Days after Hindustan Times highlighted the worsening dust and traffic congestion along Outer Ring Road (ORR) due to ongoing road repair work, Delhi’s ministers of environment and public works department (PWD) have sought detailed reports from their respective departments on the situation within two days and issued necessary directions to ensure that conditions along the road are improved within a week.

Additionally, authorities have ordered the deployment of permanent truck-mounted water sprinklers to curb dust pollution.

Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said large scale road repair works are underway across the city, and his department has been told to ensure that dust control measures are implemented at all such sites, especially during heavy traffic hours.

“We have asked the department to ensure regular water sprinkling during repair work and also throughout the day when work is halted due to traffic, as Outer Ring Road is a busy stretch. Meteorological factors are beyond our control, but road dust caused by negligence will not be tolerated by this government. Dust control measures are an essential part of the contract agreement for such projects, and contractors will be penalised if work is found to be inadequate,” Sirsa told HT.

The minister added that he would conduct a physical inspection of the work along Outer Ring Road in the coming days. Two days ago, he inspected the repair work near the Mahipalpur border between Delhi and Noida.

PWD minister Parvesh Verma also pulled up officials on Monday for not undertaking appropriate dust control measures and has asked them to submit an action taken report in two days.

Meanwhile, PWD officials said the target for completion of work was July 31. However, the scale of work and constant traffic along Outer Ring Road may delay the repair work on the entire stretch, including parts in south, south-east and north Delhi.

Officials explained that due to heavy traffic movement until late at night, only three to four hours of work can be carried out every day.

The road strengthening and resurfacing work follows the cold milling technique, wherein the existing bituminous layer is scraped off and a fresh layer, reinforced with glowing studs, is laid. This work is typically done overnight and does not require road closures or barricading. However, the scraped surface and construction material left along the road slow down traffic and contribute to dust pollution throughout the day.

“Heavy vehicles used for repair can only enter Delhi after the no-entry restrictions are lifted at 11pm. After the setup is completed, work starts only around 1am. We have to wrap up operations, remove barricades, and ensure the site is cleaned by 4-5am before morning traffic resumes. Both Ring Road and Outer Ring Road witness heavy traffic throughout the day, making it difficult to carry out repair work as well as consistent water sprinkling,” said a PWD official, asking not to be named.

On Friday, HT reported that residents and commuters were struggling with persistent traffic congestion and dust clouds due to the ongoing repair work along Outer Ring Road, particularly in south Delhi near Nehru Place, Chirag Delhi, and the Savitri flyover.

Residents also complained that the slow pace of work was worsening pollution levels, with minimal dust mitigation efforts being undertaken. On Thursday morning, HT observed that the stretch from Panchsheel to Chirag Delhi was particularly affected, with vehicles crawling at a snail’s pace and pedestrians covering their faces as they navigated the area.

The PWD has identified around 7,000 potholes and about 200,000 square metres of road length where patchwork repairs need to be carried out across the city. In several places, work is either going on or will be completed by April 30. The road strengthening work is expected to be completed by end-July, said PWD officials.

Officials said patchwork repairs are currently being carried out at multiple places, including parts of Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Vikas Marg, Noida Link Road, Rani Jhansi Road, Boulevard Road, Mehrauli Mahipalpur Road, Ravi Das Marg, Guru Govalkar Marg and Kanjhawala road, among others.