The Hanoi People's Committee has approved a plan to spend more than US$4.3 million on washing roads in the city’s 30 districts and towns, VnExpress reported.

Road washing must ensure environmental sanitation, reduce pollution and heat in the city, the city’s government requested.

A street washer is washing the walking street near Hoan Kiem Lake and the surroundings. Photo: Vo Hai

Main streets are often the dirtiest and need regular washing, especially in days with bad air quality, according to the plan.

Roads in Hoan Kiem downtown district will be washed three times per week, especially the roads which are closed to traffic for weekend pedestrianization. The main roads like Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao and Hai Ba Trung will be washed daily while other streets will be washed four times per week.

In 2017, the municipal authority replaced road washing by cleaning with vacuum street sweeping after purchasing 50 German street sweepers and garbage trucks for urban cleaning.

Chung explained that by using vacuum sweepers, Hanoi would save VND70 billion per year (US$3 million) from road washing and avoid accumulating mud in the sewage system.

The city’s authorities decided to use high pressure street washers again last year given six prolonged air pollution spells, often at bad and very bad levels, which many said were partly caused by deficient road washing.