Mumbai: CM Shinde calls for united efforts to curb pollution in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Wednesday said his government is making all efforts to curb rising pollution in Maharashtra and appealed for united efforts to make it happenSpeaking at a function after administering the pledge of pollutionfree Diwali to schoolchildren at Mantralaya the state secretariat in Mumbai Shinde said rising pollution levels have become a cause for global concernldquoThe state government has focused on planting trees Environment awareness campaigns are being conducted through Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and subsidies are being given for bamboo plantationrdquo he saidShinde said if children can make up their minds to celebrate a pollutionfree Diwali their parents will follow the same pathThe CMs appeal comes at a time when Mumbai is witnessing rising air pollution levelsTo control air pollution in Mumbai the civic body has served notices to more than 100 contractors and real estate firms engaged in executing private and government projects asking them to adhere to dust mitigation norms or face actionThe Bombay High Court has also limited fireworks between 7 pm and 10 pm for Mumbai residents during the festival of lightsBMC takes action against gold and silver smelting units to tackle air pollution in MumbaiMeanwhile the Mumbairsquos civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has demolished four chimneys of gold and silver smelting units in Kalbadevi and Zaveri Bazar area in South Mumbai amid worsening air pollution in the city officials said on WednesdayAlso read Sixhour block on Mumbaibound corridor of Expressway on ThursdayAccording to BMC officials their Cward took action against the units as they were compounding the air pollution in the metropolisMumbais average air quality index AQI stood at around 150 or moderate on Wednesday according to official dataAs part of the business of making ornaments and allied activities gold and silver are melted in smelting units which are mostly smallscale factories While the precious metals are melted in a furnace gaseous byproducts are released into the air through chimneys civic officials saidHowever when such fumes are released without scientific treatment they pose a threat to human health they saidAs these hazardous gases add to the citys pollution BMC has initiated a drive against those violating the air pollution norms said a civic officialThe BMCs buildings and factories department has evicted four such smelting units on Dhanji Marg and Miza Marg in Cward the official saidAccording to a BMC release issued on Wednesday Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the civic body to take measures to bring air pollution and dust under control in MumbaiActing on the directive the BMC has started taking measures in all 24 civic wards including cleaning nearly 650 kilometres of road with water for dust control it saidThe civic body recently issued new guidelines to lessen air pollution in the city It has given developers and those carrying out infrastructure work a months time to acquire sprinklers and fogging machines for their construction sites and also warned of stern action in case of noncompliance With inputs from PTI