Mumbai: To discourage people from open garbage burning and lighting warming fires, the BMC's enviornment department is planning to increase the penalty against open burning 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 Navi Mumbai and Thane municipal corporations," a senior officer said.
Open burning is one of the major cause of air pollution in Mumbai, especially in the areas with maximum slum settlements. Last winter, maximum violators for open burning were found in Deonar.
Meanwhile, despite positive intervention measures under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP IV) to control air pollution, the air quality index (AQI) of Mumbai continue to dip. On Wednesday night, the overall AQI of Mumbai was 198, which on Tuesday was 172. Several areas recorded AQI above 250.
The areas with poorest AQI included Mazgaon (269), Mulund West (265), Borivali East (250), Navy Nagar-Colaba (236), Powai (214), Kandivali East (208), Chakala-Andheri East (205) and Deonar (204) among others.
From Monday, the BMC started positive intervention measures under GRAP IV for areas with poorest AQI, which included misting, water spraying, deep cleaning and actions against polluting bakeries, industrial units and construction sites.
The AQI of Mazgaon which was above 300 on Monday, came down to 252 on Tuesday but increased to 269 on Wednesday. The civic body has halted it's water project works and started regular water misting in the area. "The flying squad found that a bakery operating illegal at night in Mazgaon, which is majorly contributing to air pollution. Ward level procedures have begun to shut down the bakery operations.
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 cause for plummeting AQI. Apart from civic flying squads, the BMC has asked the police to take rounds to stop open burning, especially garbage.
Speaking with the FPJ on implementation of GRAP IV in Mumbai and stoppage on construction activities to control AQI, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had earlier 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.”
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 include to control air pollution includes green cloth cover, regular water spraying, CCTV monitoring and installation of air pollution monitoring systems among others. So far out of total 1200 active construction sites in Mumbai, only 550 around have installed air pollution monitors.
While, 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.
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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