Residential areas of Dhanbad are likely to be spared the hazards of coal dust from nearby mines, at least partially, with the local corporation announcing its readiness to deploy road cleaning machines from Saturday.

Dhanbad Municipal Corporation (DMC), which bought five mechanised truck-mounted sweeping machines (in picture by Gautam Dey) by spending Rs 2.25 crore, will use them in 14 wards.

“Initially, we will be using mechanised dust sweepers in Dhanbad circle. Gradually we will extend their use to wards of Jharia, Sindri, Katras and Chhatatand circles, depending on how the machines perform in Dhanbad,” said municipal commissioner Chandramohan Kashyap.

Of the five mechanised dust sweepers, two are large, each costing Rs 69 lakh, and three are small, each costing Rs 29 lakh.

“While the two large sweepers will be used on main roads, the three smaller machines will be used for narrow streets in residential colonies and markets,” said Hubban Mallick, the director of Pay and Clean, the agency entrusted with the job of operating and maintaining the machines.

Mallick explained that the machines would first spray water on the surface of roads and colonies and then use a broom-like contraption. The collected dust will be then sucked in and stored inside a large chamber attached to the machine.

In case this method doesn’t yield satisfactory results, the machine would wash the spot by pumping huge quantities of water and then suck in the paste (water and dust) to ensure the surface was clean.

“Not only roads and streets, the machines will also clean dirt and mud deposited in drains and on flanks of the road,” Mallick said, adding that machines were bought from a company called, Roots Multiclean.