As Mumbai Air Turns Worse Than Delhi, BMC Gears Up with Sprinklers, Team of Monitors; PMO Dials Shinde

Several parts of Mumbai recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) above 200 which is categorised as ‘poor’ on Saturday morning. As the nation’s financial capital beat the national capital in poor AQI, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued guidelines for controlling air pollution, while warning construction sites to adhere to those guidelines.

According to BMC, nearly 6,000 construction sites are currently active across the city. BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal warned that if any of the construction sites – private or government – do not follow the pollution control measures, then their construction will be stopped anytime, anywhere, adding that a ‘stop work’ notice will be issued on the spot.

According to a Times of India report, these measures from the BMC follow a call from the Prime Minister’s Office to that of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, asking him to take measures to prevent pollution in Mumbai.

AQI Recorded on Saturday Across Mumbai

The average AQI recorded in the island city was above 200, the ‘poor’ category. AQI recorded at stations across the city are:

• Bandra Station: Poor air quality with an AQI of 210
• Malad West Station: Poor air quality with 229 AQI
• Borivali East Station: Moderate air quality with an AQI of 144
• Chakala-Andheri East Station: Poor air quality with 246 AQI
• Worli Station: Moderate Category with AQI of 144
• Mazgaon Station: Poor Air Quality with AQI recorded as 207

BMC to Acquire 30 Smog-guns to Enable Pollution Control Measures

The BMC is set to acquire 30 anti-smog guns to combat air pollution, especially in winters. According to ToI, these anti-smog guns will disperse water in regular intervals to settle dust particles present in the air. These machines will be deployed in areas with higher pollution levels and at construction sites.

The corporation body is aiming at speeding up the process of procurement to address the concern of – increasing – air pollution as soon as possible.

BMC Lays Out Guidelines for Pollution Control

The BMC on Friday issued directives for construction sites, industries and vehicles in order to control the increasing pollution in Mumbai city.

At a top-level stakeholders’ meeting, BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal directed them to ensure that the pollution dust that rises from all the construction cites across the city is strictly monitored and preventive measures to control such situations are taken immediately.

• Any construction site of more than one acre should have an iron sheet enclosure with the entire building under construction enclosed with green cloth/jute sheet/tarpaulin to ensure that no dust spreads during the construction activity.
• The civic body directed to install sprinklers at all construction sites within fifteen days and a smog gun system within a month. Additionally, the city’s major 50-60 roads will be micro-sprayed with smog guns in the morning and instructions to review air quality have been issued in the localities housing refineries.
• All the construction works undertaken by Metro, Roads Department, and other government departments have also been instructed to enclose their construction sites along with the provision of sprinkler systems and anti-smog guns.
• Water sprinklers are also a must in those buildings that are to be demolished. This is to ensure that the dust settles during the process of demolishing.
• Works including marble cutting, grinding, cutting of construction materials, etc., shall all be carried out in enclosed premises only.
• The transportation vehicles carrying construction debris and other related leftovers must be covered with tarpaulin sheets and should adhere to the designated weight, avoiding any chances of overloading.
• The tyres of the transportation trucks must also be cleaned and sprinkled with water to remove any dust before and after the work at sites, ensuring cleanliness on the roads.
• Any vehicle, in violation of these rules, shall be penalised heavily and additionally, their registration will also be cancelled. Special squads will be deployed to monitor these vehicles.
• Construction sites now, shall also have CCTV networks for the purpose of monitoring obedient implementation of the set guidelines.
• For industries, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and BMC shall assign experts to verify the pollution level caused due to refineries, Tata Power Plant, and RCF and to also check all the installations for their measures to control pollution.
• The assigned experts will collect random samples from these installations on a regular basis, adding that these samples will be chemically analysed to ensure that no pollution is caused by these plants.
• BMC will set up 50 Special Squads in its 24 Administrative wards which shall daily visit all the construction sites to ensure compliance with the guidelines measured. Video recordings will also be taken to check for violations, and if it shows contempt of rules, a ‘stop work’ notice will be slapped on the spot.
• Additionally, the Transport Commissioner will also send squads to check if any vehicles are plying on roads beyond their designated service life, without proper PUC or overloading, and take stringent penal and disciplinary action against the defaulters including revocation of such vehicles’ registration.

Mumbai Needs 67 Air Quality Monitoring Stations

As the air quality consistently stoops down to the poor category, Mumbaikars find it increasingly difficult to breathe through the toxic air. India’s financial capital has a limited number of Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS). According to an Indian Express report, Mumbai in 2018 had 20 monitoring stations and five years later, the number has only gone up by one, leaving the city with 21 monitoring stations.

This is was less than the required number of monitoring stations – 67 – to identify and analyse the airshed of Mumbai in accordance with the guidelines of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Out of the 21 monitoring stations in Mumbai, 12 are managed by the MPCB, while nine are managed by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research.

The national capital of Delhi — which was overtaken by Mumbai in the ‘who has more pollution’ race – installed several monitoring stations across the city in the same five-year period that Mumbai had. The number of stations in Delhi, which was 25 in 2018, rose to 35 in 2020 and now stands at 40.

(With inputs from PTI)