New Delhi [India], June 10 (ANI): In a major step towards combating road dust pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM), on Tuesday, signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) and the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) in New Delhi.

According to an official release, the collaboration aims at the effective implementation of the Standard Framework for redevelopment of urban roads including paving and greening of pathways and sidewalks, towards abatement of dust pollution across Delhi-NCR.

The tripartite MoU aims for facilitation by CSIR-CRRI and SPA, New Delhi for setting up a Project Monitoring Cell (PMC) at CAQM and operationalization of the same. The PMC shall oversee and support the phased implementation of the framework in NCR States for effective development/ redevelopment of roads aligned with broad elements of the framework.

In the first phase, the Commission in due consultations with NCR State Governments & GNCTD, has taken up nine highly urbanized / industrialized cities of NCR, namely, Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi and Neemrana, the release stated.

The collaboration leverages the domain expertise of CSIR-CRRI in road standardization/ engineering, construction and asset management and that of SPA in sustainable urban planning and greening solutions along these roads.

The Standard Framework encompasses--Cross Section design for different types of Roads and width of Right of Way (ROW), Mitigation of Road Dust within the Right-of-way through Greening Measures, Web-GIS-based Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for effective road maintenance regime, and Adoption of new technologies in road construction and maintenance.

As per the release, under the MoU, CSIR-CRRI and SPA would provide institutional support and technical guidance to the PMC being setup at CAQM. CRRI and SPA will support CAQM inter-alia in providing guidance in setting up the PMC, suggesting suitable manpower requirement for the same and guiding the hired resources in monitoring the development/ redevelopment of roads on the Standard Framework. A dedicated dashboard will also be created to ensure data-driven tracking and monitoring of specific road projects.

Transforming urban roads through scientific design, sustainable greening, and modern technologies is one of the key long term solutions for abating dust pollution from the roads and improvement of air quality in the region. (ANI)