Mumbai: Builders and Developers in Mumbai’s real estate industry believe they are being singled out and blamed by state authorities for the rise in AQI/pollution levels and that this ‘attack’ on them is ‘politically motivated’.
According to Dr Adv Harshul Sawla, Managing Partner, M Realty, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Agahadi (MVA) government was pro real estate and post covid had offered incentives and bail out packages to the industry, including stamp duty cuts and premium reductions so as to enable it to get back on its feet.
“By blaming the construction industry, the Shinde-Fadnavis government is in fact targeting Udhav Thackeray and the MVA for rising pollution levels in Mumbai!” he maintained.
“Why is nobody talking about the 34 infrastructure projects that are currently running parallel in Mumbai Metropolitan Region? Why is the responsibility for the rising AQI levels being fixed only on builders?” Sawla asked.
According to him, the Mumbai Metro Line 3, has in fact brazenly asked civic authorities to exempt them/relax the anti pollution guidelines so as to enable them to complete the project on time. “On the other hand, stop work notices are being issued to developers everyday for not complying with the rules.”
Sawla maintains that the BJP-run government in the state does not want to blame infrastructure projects because they know that doing so would amount to pointing fingers at themselves. “Because they are driving these infra projects now and want them to be completed before elections. On the other hand, blaming the developers would amount to blaming the MVA Government”.
'Building construction alone cannot be the main contributor to pollution': Developer
Developer Rajesh Prajapati, Managing Director, Prajapati Constructions Ltd. says that building construction alone cannot be the main contributor to pollution. “It’s not as if the real estate industry has grown by five times over the last few years. A 10 to 15 per cent growth would not make a major dent in pollution”.
According to him, the basis for apportioning the blame on construction is not scientific. “Authorities must explain and prove to us conclusively and scientifically that we are responsible for pollution. Adopting a mindless and reckless approach will not work.”
Builders made ‘sitting ducks’
Developer Rushi Mehta of Neelyog Construction, who currently has six slum rehabilitation projects underway, calls it a ‘knee jerk’ reaction on the part of the government with builders being made ‘sitting ducks’. Stop work notices are being issued arbitrarily on a daily basis, he says.
Mehta was recently issued a stop work notice by the authorities for one of his SRA projects in Ghatkopar. “The government must realise development is irreversible. We invest so much capital in it…by issuing a notice, not only does construction come to a standstill but it affects ancillary industries like cement, steel, labour and others as well. The entire chain gets impacted”.
Sawla agrees that nearly 400 ancillary industries are connected to the real estate business. “Growth of real estate has an overall impact on the state economy”, he says.
"AQI readings appear skewed"
Meanwhile, Mehta maintained that the AQI readings appear skewed. “Do they even have a scientific mechanism to measure the levels?”.
According to him, along with construction and infrastructure there are other factors contributing to pollution like vehicular emissions, climate change, bad condition of roads among others.
Meanwhile, Dominic Romell, President CREDAI-MCHI too has challenged this ‘unfounded notion’ that the real estate sector alone is responsible for pollution. “It is unfair to singularly attribute the rise in AQI levels to construction activities alone. The identification of the M-East Ward (Govandi, Deonar etc) as the most polluted area highlights the diversity of pollution sources, including power plants, refineries, and the Deonar landfill”.
According to him, refineries, waste management, unauthorised industrial units and power plants significantly impact air quality.
“We would like a more collaborative approach to tackle air pollution, including measures to reduce traffic and cleaner mass transit networks, instead of just blaming the real estate sector”.
