Mumbai: Special Committee tells BMC, 'To control dust, form task forces'

The seven-member committee appointed to suggest measures to control dust in Mumbai has submitted its final report to BMC administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal. The report has recommended to form three task forces at ward-level to implement the ‘Air Pollution Mitigation Action’ plan in the city.

Accordingly, the task forces will visit all the construction sites in their respective wards once in a week to check compliance of the guidelines. The violators may even have to face a stringent action of stop work notice.

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SOPs to be implemented from April 1

The civic chief has declared earlier that the SOPs will be implemented from April 1. The task forces will submit the weekly action taken report to the assistant civic commissioners concerned.

To improve the air-quality, Chahal had formed a special committee on March 13 to formulate the strategy for implementing the mitigation plan. The committee along with a technical advisory team identified the major sources of air pollution and then recommended long-term and short-term measures.

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Dust generated by large-scale construction one of main factors of air pollution

According to the BMC, there are a total of 5,000 sites where various construction works are underway. The dust generated by large-scale construction and changes in the wind speed have been found to be the main factors of air pollution.

“Three task forces in all the 24 administrative wards will be formed to inspect all types of construction sites, including infrastructure projects. The task forces can issue a warning letter to developers failing to implement pollution control measures. On a second instance of non-compliance, action will be taken as per the provision of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act or Maharashtra Regional and Town planning Act, which include issuance of stop work notice. We will also ask other special planning authorities like Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to inspect the sites,” said a senior civic official.