Navi Mumbai: Uran hits a global ‘sixer’ on air pollution index, Nerul registers hazardous levels

Navi Mumbai: Uran hits a global ‘sixer’ on air pollution index, Nerul registers hazardous levels

The environmentalists have called upon the state government to urgently convene a meeting of top government officials to discuss ways and means to contain dust in the air as the first step

Amit SrivastavaUpdated: Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 07:54 PM IST
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Navi Mumbai air quality is going from bad to worse.

Uran continues to record severe levels of pollution, ranking globally at 6th position on Tuesday. Even Nerul’s Sector 19A showed a hazardous level of 476.

On February 10, when Uran emerged as the world’s 7th and India’s 4th most polluted area, environmentalists from the city had knocked the doors of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The CM in turn had already asked the environment and urban development departments to examine the environmentalists’ complaints, NatConnect Foundation which alerted the CM said.

The website of air quality index (www.aci.in) that monitors the global air pollution levels ranked Uran at 6th globally and 4th in India with an AQI of 372 on Tuesday.

Ways and means to contain dust in the air

The environmentalists have called upon the state government to urgently convene a meeting of top government officials as well as project proponents such as NMIAL, JNPA, CIDCO and MMRDA to discuss ways and means to contain dust in the air as the first step.

A Forest Department official on condition of anonymity said about 40 quarries with over 250 crushers working almost round the clock are blowing all the hazardous dust into the air. “The dust clouds are blinding and it has become tough to drive on the NH348,” said Vishnu Joshi of Parsik Greens, an environmentalist forum from Parsik Hill Belapur.

Recycled water for builders to spray at their sites

Earlier, the engineering department of NMMC had served notices on at least 50 construction sites to check dust flying into the air as the city is witnessing a massive redevelopment. NMMC offered to supply recycled water to builders to spray at their sites, he said. NMMC commissioner Rajesh Narvekar asked the City Engineer to act, as per the response received by the NGO.

With pollution at its peak, every night has become a nightmare in Nerul. “If we open the windows to get some fresh air, within an hour, my old parents start coughing, and feel irritation in our eyes,” said Susmitha Rajan, a resident. 

Kharghar-based activist Jyoti Nadkarni said the ongoing destruction of mangroves is also causing a lot of trouble as the sea plants act as carbon sinks. She also blamed the quarrying and debris dumping on mangroves and wetlands for the bad air quality in Kharghar.

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