MCD mosquito control staff will be expanded through 1,066 contractual appointments after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee approved a proposal to strengthen field operations against dengue, malaria and other vector-borne diseases. The committee also cleared a project worth approximately Rs 923.6 crore to deploy 70 mechanical road-sweeping machines across MCD roads over the next 10 years.
The public-health appointments are intended to address vacancies in the department responsible for inspecting mosquito-breeding sites, removing breeding sources, conducting anti-larval operations, fogging and monitoring vulnerable areas. The vacancies include 14 anti-malaria officers, 105 malaria inspectors, 398 assistant malaria inspectors and 549 public-health multi-tasking staff, taking the total to 1,066 posts.
Standing committee chairperson Satya Sharma said the department was central to preventing, monitoring and controlling infectious and vector-borne diseases in Delhi. She said regular field inspections, surveillance, larval testing and public-awareness campaigns were essential for controlling mosquito-borne diseases.
The decision comes with the corporation’s field capacity under pressure from vacant posts. The approved contractual hiring is focused on operational roles that support surveillance and on-ground disease-control work. The source report did not specify the appointment period, remuneration or the process and timeline for completing the recruitment.
Separately, the committee approved the mechanical road-sweeping project to reduce dust accumulation and particulate matter generated by vehicular movement. The project has been divided into three packages covering a total of 70 machines.
The first package, covering 29 machines, has been awarded to an agency at a cost of Rs 369.5 crore. The second package, involving 28 machines, has been approved at Rs 368.8 crore, while the third package for 13 machines has been approved at Rs 185.2 crore. Together, the three packages total approximately Rs 923.5 crore, while the committee has described the overall project value as about Rs 923.6 crore.
According to Sharma, smaller-capacity machines will be electric, while larger machines will have the option of operating on electricity or compressed natural gas. The equipment is intended to clean MCD roads over the 10-year project period and reduce dust-related pollution linked to road surfaces and traffic movement.
The committee also directed officials to develop rainwater-harvesting facilities in at least one park in each of the MCD’s 250 wards, in addition to existing operational facilities. This direction adds a water-management component to the decisions taken at the meeting.
Concerns were also raised over roads being dug up by different agencies without proper permission or coordination. The issue points to a parallel operational challenge for the civic body: road-cleaning and dust-control measures can be affected when public roads are repeatedly opened for works by multiple agencies. The committee’s approved measures now require follow-through on recruitment, machine deployment, park-level rainwater-harvesting facilities and coordination over road excavation.
