As Mumbai chokes, BMC wakes up to implement anti-pollution measures

Mumbai: With Mumbai reeling under air pollution levels exceeding Delhi in the past few days, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation on Friday issued a set of tough directives for construction sites, industries and vehicles to enable Mumbaikars breathe easy.

At a top-level meeting of various stakeholders, BMC Commissioner I.S. Chahal ordered them to ensure that pollution dust raised by nearly 6,000 construction sites must be strictly monitored and preventive/remedial measures should be taken forthwith, and violations would lead to ‘stop work’ notices issued at the site concerned itself.

The CEOs of the MHADA, the SRA, the MIDC, MDs of MSRDC, MMRCL, Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA, and Presidents of CREDAI, MCHI, NAREDCO, PEATA, besides top MPCB and BMC officers, and representatives from the CMO were present.

Henceforth, any construction site of more than one acre will compulsorily have iron sheet enclosure of 35 feet high on all sides, and for less than one acre, it will be of 25 feet height, at the construction site, with the entire building under construction enclosed with green cloth/jute sheet/tarpaulin to ensure that no dust spreads during the construction activity.

All construction sites will compulsorily install sprinkler systems within 15 days and use the same for all times when the construction is ongoing, while anti-smog machines must be installed within 30 days from now.

The BMC will deploy anti-smog vehicle-mounted machines on 50 to 60 major roads in the city, while all construction sites shall install independent air quality measuring devices and monitor them scrupulously.

All the construction works undertaken by Metro, Roads Department and other government agencies shall also enclose their construction sites and provide sprinkler systems and anti-smog guns. For buildings which are to be demolished, they must have water sprinklers on all sides to settle dust during the course of the razing, while any works like marble cutting, grinding, cutting of construction materials, etc. shall be carried out in enclosed premises only.

For transportation vehicles, all such vehicles carrying construction debris shall be covered properly with tarpaulin sheets, and stick to the designated weight without overloading, their tyres must be cleaned to remove the dust and sprinkled with water before the sites for the roads, and must be washed after the day’s work.

If any vehicle is found violating the rules, or dumping debris on roads/footpaths in the city shall be penalised heavily and their registration would be cancelled, and special squads would monitor these vehicles.

Construction sites shall now have CCTV networks to ensure that all the above measures are being implemented at those locations to curb air pollution levels. For industries, the MPCB and BMC shall depute experts to verify the level of pollution caused due to refineries, Tata Power Plant and RCF and check all the installations for their pollution control measures.

The random samples shall be collected by the experts from these installations on a regular basis and they shall be chemically analysed to ensure that no pollution is caused by these plants, with stringent action for all violations. The BMC will set up 50 Special Squads in its 24 Administrative Wards which shall visit all the construction sites daily to ensure compliance of above instructions, take video-recordings, and if violations are noticed, slap ‘stop work’ notice on the spot.

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 vehicle’s registration.