New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) The Delhi government will deploy vehicle-mounted, mobile anti-smog guns to curb dust and other pollutants in industrial areas, officials said on Thursday.

The process for hiring eight mobile anti-smog guns has been initiated and these are likely to be deployed in industrial areas after a suitable contractor registered with a government agency is hired, an officer said.

There are 24 registered industrial areas located in different parts of the city where industrial activities and movement of transport vehicles generate dust and other pollutants. The smog guns mounted on trucks will work in two shifts, starting 3 am, to sprinkle water on all the roads of these areas.

The smog guns will be operational from 3 am to 7 am and for four non-peak hours on every working day. Of the eight smog guns, two will be kept in the reserve, the officials said.

The contractor concerned will make arrangements for refilling water during sprinkling through water tankers in the industrial areas itself. The truck-mounted anti-smog guns will not leave the sites for refilling water during the shift hours, the officials said.

The trucks on which the anti-smog guns will be installed will be GPS-enabled so that their movements could be tracked, they added.

Engineers of the industries department will have access to the GPS-enabled software, while the data will be provided to them on a weekly basis.

Only non-potable water will be used for the sprinkling purposes like that available at sewage treatment plants and centralised effluent treatment plants set up at the industrial areas.

The time allowed for carrying out the work will be 10 months (excluding the two months of monsoon). The work will start a week after the hiring of the contractor is formalised. The work is estimated to cost around Rs 2 crore. PTI VIT RC