NEW DELHI, Dec 30: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday announced measures to control air quality including halting of all construction works in Mumbai as the city’s air quality has been deteriorating in the last few days.
The direct effect of this will be that construction activities will be halted in those areas where the air quality index (AQI) breaches the 200 mark, which is a poor category.
Mumbai’s civic body chief Bhushan Gagrani told reporters on Monday that all private and public construction works have been suspended in the Borivali East and Byculla areas of Mumbai, where the AQI has consistently breached the 200 mark.
Gagrani told reporters, “In all the areas of Mumbai where the AQI index surpasses the 200 mark, we will be stopping work at all construction sites under the GRAP-IV norms. Once the AQI breaches 200, the rule will be implemented immediately without issuing any stop-work notices to the developers.”
The BMC has issued 28-point detailed guidelines and environmental management plans for projects to reduce pollution caused by construction projects.
GRAP-4 restrictions under the winter air pollution control plan, include a complete ban on construction activities, as the air quality worsened to the ‘severe’ category due to adverse weather conditions. Due to deteriorating air quality, the Stage 4 curbs were implemented earlier this month in Delhi.
In a statement, the BMC said it has inspected 877 construction projects and issued ‘Stop Work Notices’ at about 286 places so far and that this process will continue continuously.
The BMC said citizens can register complaints about Mumbai air quality on the ‘Mumbai Air App,’ where it has received 412 complaints, of which 350 have been disposed of. The statement added that 352 incidents of open burning of garbage from 04 November 2023 to 10 December 2024 resulted in criminal charges.
(Manas Dasgupta)
