'All construction work to be stopped in Borivali East for next 24 hours'

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani held a meeting on Monday over the issue of pollution and the deteriorating air quality in the cityAfter the meeting Gagrani informed BMC has decided to shut down all construction work including public project work in Borivali East in the next 24 hours as these areas witness an Air Quality Index above 200 continuously All sites in the area areas will be allowed to start work after they prove that the Dust Mitigation Guidelines have been followedBMC has attributed the rise in pollution to climate change along with vehicular emissions and dust from construction sitesIt has introduced some urgent shortterm measures to control air pollution in Mumbai They are as follows A total of 45 air quality control machines have been installed to check the air quality at various places in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR This includes 28 machines in the areas within the BMCs jurisdictionThese devices measure air quality in realtime which will help in identifying the polluted locations and implementing appropriate measuresAll the departments of the municipal corporation have to identify the effects of air pollution and climate change and take action on it unitedly These include the Environment and Climate Change Department the Solid Waste Management Department the Building Proposal Department the Roads and Transport Department and the Administrative Division Office WardsThe Mumbai civic body has released detailed guidelines on 28 issues and environmental management plan for the projects it has undertaken Along with this it has also released detailed guidelines with 28 points to reduce pollution caused by construction projectsThe civic body has directed that underconstruction structures should be completely enclosed with green clothjutetarpaulin on all four sidesFurther it is mandatory for the project promotersbuilding developers and architectural project mechanical and electrical contractors to prepare an Environmental Management Plan EMPThe civic bodys Environment and Climate Change Department has inspected 877 construction projects from November till dateIf the projects fail to comply with the rules they will be issued an intimation in writing If rules are still not followed the projects will be issued a show cause notice and then stop work noticeBMC has already issued the stop work notice in about 286 placesLongterm strategiesThe civic body will coordinate with various government agencies and stakeholders to implement longterm strategies These include improving the quality of roads increasing public transport services through the metro and promoting sustainable urban transportThe Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan MAPMP is being implemented to address the root causes of air pollution As part of the plan misting plants for dust control as well as water sprinklers mechanical cleaning machines for deep cleaning of roads jetting are available along with water tankers at the block levelThe process of procuring about 100 dust absorption plants to control dust on the road is underwayAccording to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB 356 woodcoalbased bakery units will be converted to clean fuel within a yearLegal action is being taken to close down 77 polluting bakeriesAs many as 41 woodbased crematoriums of BMC have been converted to clean fuels like piped natural gas PNGelectricity The municipal corporation also plans to convert 225 crematoriums into clean fuelA total of 2100 singledecker and 200 doubledecker electric buses are being procured for the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST undertaking to make public transport services more environmentfriendly Currently 299 singledecker and 50 doubledecker electric buses are availableThe BMC has initiated penal action for 352 cases of open burning of waste from November 4 2023 to December 10 2024A total of 67 tankers of 5000litre capacity and 39 tankers of 9000litre capacity are used every day to control dust on the road From November 13 2023 to December 20 2024 about 5820 km of roads have been washed BMC informedBMC has used the misting machines on 3311 kilometres of road to control dust in air from November 13 2023 to December 20 2024Initiatives by Solid Waste Management DepartmentBMCs Solid Waste Management Department has undertaken a special cleanliness drive from December 25 to improve air quality and control air pollutionIt has so far cleaned 634 long roads close to around 1252 km with water with the use of 480 tankers misting machines and firex machinesA total of 342 tonnes of dust along the road have been collected by soil sweeping machinesTill Monday 939 tonnes of construction debris has been liftedMore than 350 cleanup marshals have been deployed to keep an eye on illegal debris dumpingStrict measures to be taken if the Air Quality Index is consistently above 200Under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP4 if the air quality index AQI continues to be above 200 industries and construction activities in the area will be shut downThe Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic has been directed to take action against polluting readymix concrete vehiclesThe Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB will shut down readymix concrete plants stone crushers and hot mix plantsBMC has asked citizens to cooperate to mitigate the issue of air pollution in the city and accordingly adopt an ecofriendly lifestyleFor citizensCitizens are being urged to use public transport as much as possible reduce the use of private vehicles and avoid burning garbage in the openThe Mumbai civic body has asked residents to avoid running jogging or any strenuous physical exerciseexertion on days when the air quality index is poor to very poorMumbaikars have been asked to avoid bursting firecrackers when the pollution levels are highBMC has appealed to citizens to avoid consumption of alcohol tobacco and meatA wet sponge should be used to clean the house Avoid burning incense sticks in the house BMC appealedThe civic body has also appealed to citizens to eat a healthy diet of fruits vegetables and whole grains If residents develop fever cough cold or have trouble breathing they should immediately contact a doctor Citizens have also been urged to use a disposable mask while stepping out during high levels of pollution