72 pc of pollution complaints with BMC in 5 years were on air quality

The data reveals that between 2018 and 2022, the BMC’s CCRS recorded 1,491 pollution related complaints, of which 1,075 were related to air pollution of Mumbai.

It adds that in 2021, total 424 pollution complaints were lodged, of which 343 were on air pollution, making it the highest in five years.

In 2022, the CCRS system recorded 292 pollution complaints, of which 219 was about air pollution. The data also showed that during the pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020, the civic body recorded 220 pollution related complaints, of which 151 were related to air pollution. Citizens had also raised complaints pertaining to pollution caused due to chemical effluent and from mills manufacturing flour and spices.

During peak winter, during 82 days between November 2022 and January 2023, the city recorded 66 poor and very poor AQI days, which was more than double of past three year’s average.

Speaking about the findings, Rini Cherian, program coordinator at Praja Foundation, said that the average time taken to resolve the complaints was as high as 31 days in 2022.

“The report takes reference from the guidelines mentioned in the SWM Rules 2016 by the central government, Mumbai’s Climate Action Plan (MCAP) 2022, BMC’s vision 2030, etc., and correlates with the information collected via the RTI (Right to Information Act), BMC’s Environment Status Report and BMC’s website,” Cherian told reporters on Tuesday.

The report also stated that the number of complaints pertaining to air pollution shot up by 237 per cent in the past 10 years. In 2013, the BMC recorded only 65 complaints in this issue, while the numbers stood at 219 in 2022.

The report also found that cumulatively, pollution-related complaints had increased by 150 per cent in the past one decade with 117 complaints recorded in 2013 and 292 in 2022. The banner of pollution included categories of air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, nuisance caused by flour mills as well as chemical affluent induced pollution.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Bhagwan Kesbhat, founder of NGO Wataavaran Foundation, said, “Over the past few years, every nook and corner of the city has been impacted by bad air… Last year, in October, November and December, every family had members experiencing cold, breathlessness and other respiratory issues.”

Kesbhat added, “We observed that citizens became more proactive with them increasingly complaining to corporators, MLAs, police chowkis as well as to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.” In 2022, a total 1.04 lakh complaints were registered on CCRS, indicating an increase of 15 per cent from 2021 whereby 90,250 complaints were recorded. At 17,121, the highest complaints pertained to drainage related issues followed by buildings (16,883) and licences (13,439).

It is pertinent to note that, within the past decade, the highest number of complaints (1.28 lakh) was made in 2019, after which the numbers dipped during the pandemic.