Mumbai Air Pollution: AQI Above 200 In Several Areas As Haze, Dust And Volcanic Ash Cut Visibility; BMC Plans To Impose ₹5,000 Penalty For Open Burning

Mumbai, Nov 25: Several areas in Mumbai continued to record the air quality index (AQI) above 200, which falls under the Poor category. The overall AQI of the city on Tuesday was 172, and the areas which saw the poorest air quality included Mazgaon (252), Chakala–Andheri East (255), Powai (221), Navy Nagar–Colaba (216), Borivali East (219), Malad West (210) and others.

Thick Haze, Dust Pollution and Volcanic Ash Impact Visibility

Mumbai also witnessed very poor visibility on Tuesday, which the BMC's environment department attributed to thick haze due to dust pollution accompanied with minor effects of ash clouds due to the Ethiopian volcano eruption.

BMC Begins GRAP IV Positive Interventions

From Monday, the BMC started positive intervention measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP IV) for areas with the poorest AQI, which included misting, water spraying, deep cleaning and actions against polluting bakeries, industrial units and construction sites.

Mazgaon AQI Drops After Interventions; Illegal Bakery Traced

The AQI of Mazgaon, which was above 300 on Monday, came down to 252 on Tuesday after the civic body halted its water project works and started regular water misting.

“The flying squad found that a bakery was operating illegally at night in Mazgaon, which is majorly contributing to air pollution. Ward-level procedures have begun to shut down the bakery operations. While in areas like Worli and Deonar, the AQI came below 200 on Tuesday as staff on the ground ensured deep cleaning drives,” a senior officer from the BMC environment department said.

Volcanic Ash Expected to Clear by Tuesday Evening

The officer added that the visibility in Mumbai was very poor on Tuesday as, along with haze and dust pollution, there were minor effects of ash clouds due to Ethiopian volcano eruptions.

However, the weather department has said that the ash clouds from the Ethiopian volcanic eruption are likely to clear India's skies by 7:30 pm on Tuesday, marking the expected end of the disturbances reported across parts of the country.

Open Burning, Polluting Units Continue to Worsen AQI

Meanwhile, apart from polluting bakeries, industrial units, construction sites and RMC plants which are not following the 28-point guidelines for air pollution control, open burning is one of the major causes for plummeting AQI. Apart from civic flying squads, the BMC has asked the police to take rounds to stop open burning, especially garbage.

BMC Plans ₹5,000 Fine for Open Burning

“In areas like Deonar and other wards where slum settlements are more, open burning is a major source of air pollution. To discourage people from open burning, we are planning to increase the penalty to Rs 5000. Until last year, the fine for open burning was only Rs 100, which is increased to Rs 500 this year. However, the violators do not take this meagre fine seriously. Soon there will be a proposal put up to the commissioner to increase the fine against open burning to Rs 5000, similar to that of the Navi Mumbai and Thane municipal corporations,” the officer said.

GRAP IV Measures Will Be Applied Selectively: Commissioner

Speaking with the FPJ on the implementation of GRAP IV in Mumbai and the stoppage of construction activities to control AQI, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had said, “All factors under GRAP IV do not apply to Mumbai. All construction activities will not be stopped immediately. First, there will be a positive intervention, which includes water misting, deep cleaning, actions against polluting bakeries, polluting units etc. For areas like Mazgaon Dock, which on Monday recorded AQI above 300, a decision needs to be taken to stop construction activities, similar to last year.”

Construction Site Compliance Still Low

“Stoppage of all construction activities falls under negative intervention, which is the next step if AQI does not come under control with positive intervention activities,” Gagrani added.

Some of the guidelines mandatory at the construction sites to control air pollution include green cloth cover, regular water spraying, CCTV monitoring and installation of air pollution monitoring systems, among others. So far, out of a total of 1200 active construction sites in Mumbai, only around 550 have installed air pollution monitors.

Polluting Bakeries and Units Under Scrutiny

Meanwhile, out of around 295 polluting bakeries operated on coal/wood, 56 have transitioned to green fuels (PNG/CNG/electric), 129 are under transition and five bakeries have been shut down.

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Areas with Consistently High AQI Prioritised for GRAP IV

For the BMC, areas like Chakala–Andheri, Borivali East, Malad West, Deonar, Navy Nagar–Colaba and Mazgaon, which are consistently recording AQI above 200, are on the top list to implement GRAP IV measures.

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