The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to form a seven-member committee as Mumbai has already recorded 66 ‘bad’ air days in 2023. The panel will have to submit a report within seven days, on the basis of which measures will be taken to tackle rising air pollution, such as stopping construction work.
The committee will be chaired by additional municipal commissioner (western suburbs) Dr Sanjeev Kumar. “The air quality in the Mumbai region, including the city, is currently bad due to changes in wind speed conditions combined with dust rising from various development and construction works. In view of this, dust is the main factor responsible for air pollution,” stated a press release issued by the BMC.
The committee was formed by BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal in a meeting held on Sunday. Based on the committee’s report, the final standard operating procedure for dust control will be finalised and implemented from April 1 in areas under the civic body. Chahal said in case of violation of any rule under this SOP, a ‘stop-work notice’ will be issued along with other action.
“The air pollution situation is like never before in the Mumbai Metropolitan region. In the post-Covid period, dust generated by large-scale construction as well as development works, changes in the wind speed have been found to be the two main factors. Although natural conditions are out of human control, at present, there are more than 5,000 sites in Mumbai where various works are ongoing, it is in the hands of the administration to keep a check on that,” read the BMC release.
Data compiled of non-Covid related respiratory ailments, including asthma, showed that approximately 13,444 people died due to these illnesses in the last five years in Mumbai. Experts also attributed this to the poor air quality in the city.
Over the past few months, Mumbai has constantly been reeling from poor air quality and reports show that it had bad air for more than 270 days out of 365 last year.
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