While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has the authority to act against wood-burning bakeries, numerous officials have said that such measures require collaboration and the involvement of multiple departments, which can lead to backlogs. In the end, the buck is just passed on from one department to the other.

In the past few days, L ward has served notices to at least 13 polluting bakeries. “The problem has been around for a while. This year, in total, we have taken action against 34 bakeries,” said Nitin Kamble, an official from BMC’s building and factories department.  The action taken includes collaboration between the water department, health department, and electricity department. “Many permissions are needed to be checked before classifying the activities of any unit as illegal. Once it is determined they are illegal, every department starts taking action. Their water supply is cut off or their polluting chimneys are demolished,” he said.