Navi Mumbai, Dec 05: With air pollution in Navi Mumbai becoming a matter of health scare, the Sajag Nagirik Manch has issued a sharp reprimand to the city administration while submitting an urgent memorandum to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), CIDCO and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).
AQI Figures Trigger Concern
The group has questioned how the city continues to win the “Second Cleanest City” award for three consecutive years when Belapur recorded an AQI of 238 and Nerul an even worse 271 on November 27.
Calling the situation a “clear administrative failure,” the Manch said, “Clean roads alone are not enough; if the air is not clean, the award is meaningless.”
Cleanliness Must Include Air Quality, Says Manch
The Manch highlighted that a city’s cleanliness ranking must not be restricted to waste management and street sweeping alone, but should also factor in the quality of air its residents breathe.
Navi Mumbai, according to the Manch, is currently registering extremely high levels of PM2.5 pollutants, which are known to cause asthma, cardiac complications, chronic respiratory inflammation, and breathing difficulties in children. The memorandum accuses NMMC, CIDCO and MPCB of gross negligence despite repeated warnings from citizens.
Pollution Data Gaps Raise Suspicion
The group pointed out that Navi Mumbai houses the MPCB’s own regional office, yet the worsening air quality went unchecked. They also expressed concern about the suspicious and frequent “internet issues” displayed at MPCB’s air monitoring stations, due to which pollution data often goes missing. The Manch has demanded an immediate investigation into what it termed an unacceptable lapse in transparency.
Sources of Pollution Identified by Residents
Residents have long been drawing attention to major contributors to pollution, including RMC plants, unregulated construction sites, quarry activities, dust from CIDCO project zones, unchecked industrial emissions and rapidly increasing vehicular traffic. The memorandum accuses authorities of failing to take any decisive action on these issues.
Demands: Action Plan, NEERI Study & Enforcement
In its recommendations, the Manch called for a comprehensive Air Pollution Emergency Action Plan for Navi Mumbai and the immediate commissioning of a Source Apportionment Study by an independent body such as the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
The group has sought strict dust-control enforcement at construction sites, increased mechanical road cleaning and water sprinkling in both CIDCO and NMMC areas, and punitive measures including sealing against polluting industries.
Strong action against garbage burning, diesel generator sets, cement mixers, and chronic traffic congestion has also been demanded, along with real-time AQI display boards across major junctions. The Manch further urged the establishment of respiratory clinics or pollution helpdesks for citizens.
Appeal to Centre, CM & MoHUA
The citizens’ body has also escalated the matter to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), demanding that “Air Quality” be made a compulsory criterion in the Clean City Award evaluation. “The contradiction between receiving a cleanliness award and breathing toxic air must end,” the Manch has said.
Copies of the memorandum have been submitted to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and MoHUA. The group warned that the rising pollution levels are fast becoming a public health emergency and urged immediate intervention.
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Clean Air is a Right, Says Founder
Reiterating the urgency, Sudhir Dani, founder of the Sajag Nagirik Manch, said, “For the sake of public health, immediate and long-term measures must be implemented jointly by NMMC, CIDCO and the MPCB. Clean air is a fundamental right of citizens, and ensuring it is the constitutional responsibility of the administration.”
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