Bhubaneswar: The municipal corporation has awarded the contract of mechanical sweeping across major roads in the city to two agencies, which will take up the job ahead of the Men's Hockey World Cup in November.
The agencies will begin mechanical sweeping along 80km of roads. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has selected Jharkhand-based United Air Express, which will sweep a 43.5km stretch, while Punjab-based joint venture of Pro Power Sweeping Company Pvt. Ltd and Lions Services Ltd will sweep the rest 37km.
The agencies will start work in the allotted roads by the end of October. "Selection through bidding is done. We will now issue the letter of award," said a civic official.
According to the packages, the first one of 37km includes stretches such as from KIIT Square to Jayadev Vihar Square, CRPF Square to Power House Square, Stewart School Square to Delta Square, Governor House Square to Gopabandhu Square, Gopabandhu Square to Siripur Square and Gopabandhu Square to Paika Nagar Square among others.
Similarly, the of 43.5km netowrk includes stretches from Museum Square to Garage Chhak, Acharya Vihar Square to Airport Square, Vani Vihar Square to Sishu Bhavan Square, New Airport Square to Airport Circle, Kalpana Square to Governor House Square and Ganganagar Square to Sishu Bhavan Square among others.
According to the contract, at least two mechanical sweeping machines will be put in place for the work. The cleaning will only be undertaken between 10pm and 6am, when the traffic density remains minimum. However, it may vary depending on the requirement of the time.
Though the procurement of machines instils a sense of fear among the sweeper communities of losing their jobs, civic body officials said the manual sweeping would also be carried out to ensure cleanliness of the roads in a proper manner.
Sources said the new operators would also take steps to clear debris dumped on roadsides and deposit it at the designated dumping yards at Pokhariput and Patia. "We are hopeful that the mechanical sweepers will change the city's sanitation scenario," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
