Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Thursday that it had warned the company behind the bullet train project at the Bandra-Kurla Complex that it should follow air pollution mitigation measures or face the prospect of receiving stop-work notice.
BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal was asked at a press briefing whether the civic body was taking action only against private contractors who do not follow its guidelines.
High AQI
“Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has told us that whether it is the railways, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Coastal Road, bullet train... BMC should send stop-work notice to whoever breaches the prescribed norms,” he said.
“On Thursday we had a meeting with the chief minister, attended by officers from various departments. During the discussions, the chief secretary brought to the notice of the CM that the AQI at BKC was high and work on bullet train was contributing to air pollution. I told him, ‘We have issued notice to them and warned that if they don’t adhere to the air pollution mitigation measures that we have laid out, then the BMC will stop their work. So we are only targeting the private contractors. We will not spare anyone,” Chahal added.
The BMC has already issued stop work notice to J Kumar Infraprojects Company, which is executing Metro 3 work at BKC. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has also issued notices to 14 ready-mix concrete plants.
According to the BMC, J Kumar’s site at BKC was not covered with tarpaulin, jute and green cloths and workers were not provided masks – as per guidelines issued by the civic body.
