Poor air quality in Mumbai: Crackdown on construction sites begins

A day after Mumbairsquos abysmal air quality caught the attention of the Prime Ministerrsquos Office civic administrator I S Chahal held an online meeting with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC officials and various stakeholders on Friday In it he ordered that antismog machines be installed at all construction sites in 15 days Eventually it will be mandatory to also set up air quality index AQI measuring systems Civic officials have also been told to issue immediate stopwork notices if guidelines are not followedFor the past two days the cityrsquos pollution levels have been higher than Delhirsquos According to sources on Thursday the Prime Ministerrsquos Office PMO concerned about the development got in touch with the Chief Ministerrsquos Officer CMO Later a CMO official told Chahal to strengthen the action being taken againstthe menaceA veil of smog envelopes Dadar on October 18 PicShadab KhanThe BMC has decided to issue fresh dustmitigation guidelines One of them stipulates that iron sheets with a minimum height of 35 feet must be used around construction sites spanning an area of one acre or more Apart from that the entire site should be covered with a jute or green cloth The minimum height of these sheets on smaller plots must be 25 feet Each construction site should also have a sprinkler system and water must be sprayed at least four to five times a dayInstructions to officialsThe civic chief on Friday gave specific orders to all authorities to ensure antidust measures are taken with regard to infrastructural projects He has also ordered that they be vigilant when it comes to the air quality of areas where Metrorelated work is going on Any work that is likely to generate dust should be completely covered The cutting of marble stone wood etc required for construction should be done in enclosed areas or under coverThe tyres of all vehicles must be cleaned before they leave construction sites All the construction sites should have CCTV cameras to ensure that rules arenrsquot being flouted The vehicles that dump debris on the road and on footpaths will be penalised heavily and their registration will be revokedThe BMC first declared guidelines for construction sites on April 1 but according to sources they are not being strictly followed Chahal has now asked officials to visit construction sites regularly and record footage of their visits They have also been asked to act immediately against those who flout guidelines The civic body decided to form 50person teams at the ward level to enforce the rulesFridayrsquos meeting was attended by Vikas Kharge principal secretary CMO Praveen Darade principal secretary environment and climate change Avinash Dhakne member secretary of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB Milind Borikar chief executive officer and MHADA Mumbai Board as well as all additional municipal commissioners representatives of the MMRDA and developersrsquo associationsChahalSpeakldquoThe Central and state governments have taken note of rising pollution levels and the BMC has been instructed to implement immediate measuresrdquo Chahal said in the meeting according to a releaseHe added ldquoDust is a major factor behind the increase in air pollution Although the construction business is a major component of the economy measures must be taken to prevent the spread of dust There is a need to take urgent and compulsory measures while coordinating among all the government agencies in MumbairdquoHe also instructed that the MPCB should hold an urgent meeting with other municipal corporations and related organisations in the Mumbai Metropolitan RegionldquoEfforts should be made by organisations to control air pollution caused by the big power energy and gas projects in Mumbai They should reexamine whether they have taken all the measures decided by the government Pollution control systems at these project sites should be inspected via the BMC flying squad The civic body should also ensure the quality of air in the vicinity of refineries in areas such as Mahulrdquo he saidChahal also directed that the agencies concerned implement the measures regularly and forcefully henceforth Otherwise they too will face actionDust in public placesThe civic bodyrsquos road department team has been ordered by Chahal to focus on reducing dust while cleaning the road Also vehiclebased antismog machines must be deployed to at least 50 to 60 busy roads in Mumbai early every dayThe civic chief also instructed that spraying should be done in the morning to prevent dust from accumulatingOct 20Day meeting was held