The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will very soon start deep cleaning drives across the city, which will include road washing with tanker water, deployment of misting machines etc, as an immediate measure to control the air pollution. With the withdrawal of monsoon, there is a sudden change in weather conditions in Mumbai, with temperatures gradually rising and the Air Quality Index (AQI) deteriorating.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the AQI of Mumbai on Sunday, October 12 was 153 (Moderate), which on Thursday, October 9 was 94 (Satisfactory). With the decrease in moisture in the weather and no rainfall for more than 48 hours, the India Meteorological Department declared withdrawal of monsoon over Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra on Friday, October 10. Since the rainfall has stopped, the AQI has dropped. The officials attribute the sudden worsening of air quality to commencement of construction activities post monsoon.
AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good,’ 51-100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101-200 ‘moderate,’ 201-300 ‘poor,’ 301-400 ‘very poor', 401-450 ‘severe,’ and above 450 ‘severe plus.’
Officials from BMC Environment department said that the Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani held review meeting on Friday on steps taken towards air pollution mitigation measures. The directions given by the BMC chief included displaying AQI tracking outside all construction sites in Mumbai, deep cleaning drives in association with the solid waste management department, every AQI monitoring. So far, out of around 1200 construction sites in Mumbai, only 450 have installed the AQI displays at their sites.
The commissioner will also hold a coordination meeting with other agencies including MMRDA, MHADA and SRA to take review of joint efforts towards controlling air pollution in Mumbai. Meanwhile, the BMC Environment department is in its last stage of procurement of multi purpose machines which feature water jetting, misting, cleaning etc. A total of 29 such machines are being procured at the cost of Rs 57 crores. It is expected by next month, these machines will be deployed on the city roads, apart from the water misting machines which are hired.
The BMC is also in process of issuing showcause notices to the bakeries in Mumbai which are yet to convert from coal and wood to green fuels, as per the Bombay High court order. The eateries run on coal/wood are one of the major sources of pollution in Mumbai.
The maximum and minimum temperatures recorded at the Colaba observatory on Sunday were 33.1°C and 24.8°C, respectively. While at the Santacruz observatory were 34.2°C and 22.5°C, respectively. For the next 48 hours, the skies in Mumbai city and suburbs will be clear, weather is expected to be sunny and temperatures in the same range.
Some of the areas which recorded poorest AQI in Mumbai on Sunday as per CPCB data included: Deonar (225), Bandra Kurla complex (195) Kandivali West (176), Malad West (184), Mazgaon (177), Andheri East (166), Ghatkopar (156).
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