Mumbai: In the wake of deteriorating air quality in the city, the BMC has directed all construction sites to properly cover trucks carrying debris and use sprinklers at the sites. As per the guidelines, repair works at buildings need to be undertaken after covering them with green construction cloth. As per civic officials, there are over 3,500 construction sites in the city.
Factors contributing to Mumbai’s poor air quality
As per BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal, four major contributing factors to Mumbai’s poor air quality are road and construction dust, traffic congestion, industries and power sector and waste burning. Officials said there is a need to properly estimate the amount of waste generated every day, track construction projects and ensure in situ monitoring of debris as regards recycling.
On Feb 4, when the BMC announced its budget for 2023-24, Chahal said construction work was stopped completely during the Covid pandemic but has regained pace, with 3,500 sites contributing majorly to air pollution. He said to address this emergency situation, the BMC has announced a seven-step strategy under the ‘Clean Air Mumbai Initiative’, which includes reducing waste dissemination and demolition.
As a first step, the BMC will approach developers, contractors and project proponents, asking them to adopt clean construction and demolition practices. This would involve installing dust screens outside buildings where construction or finishing works are in progress, washing tyres of all vehicles while exiting from sites and covering all vehicles transporting debris. It also includes debris chutes (sloping channels or slides for conveying things to a lower level) during construction.
Even though New Delhi’s air quality is considered to be the worst in the country, Mumbai has recorded an index (AQI) worse than the national capital on several days this year.
On Wednesday, Mumbai recorded an overall AQI of 283 which falls in the ‘poor’ category. Delhi, meanwhile, recorded a ‘moderate’ AQI of 120, as per the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
Cities like Pune and Ahmedabad also recorded better AQI on Wednesday compared to Mumbai at 208 and 130, respectively.
