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After municipal commissioner and BMC administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal told the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that Mumbai’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was deteriorating due to the presence of refineries, a team of civic officials have visited refineries in Mankhurd and Shivaji Nagar to advise them to control emission levels this week when the G20 summit is in session.
Speaking to The Indian Express, additional municipal commissioner Sanjeev Kumar said, “After we highlighted the issue, the Union ministry requested the refineries to take proactive measures so that the level of emission could be controlled.” Earlier this week, a team of officials from the BMC’s environment department visited the refineries and requested them to continuously check the emission levels. Mahendra Ubale, assistant municipal commissioner from M East ward, under which several of these refineries are located, said: “The overall AQI of Mumbai was very poor last week. Since the G20 summit is going on, we paid a visit to these refineries to urge them to come up with measures to ensure that the intensity of flare and smoke is reduced.”
A member of the team said the refineries have assured their assistance and said that they will implement additional measures to make sure the emission of Sulphur Dioxide is controlled.
“Modern refineries do not emit smoke, but they do give out Sulphur Dioxide. In case of Mumbai-based refineries, Sulphur Dioxide emission is well within the prescribed norms. However, this week, the refineries have assured that they will use more expensive feedstock to bring down Sulphur Dioxide emissions significantly. Work on this has already begun,” an official said.
Meanwhile, SP MLA from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, Abu Azmi, wrote to Chahal on Wednesday, demanding relocation of the city’s sole bio-medical waste treatment plant from that area, believed to be a reason behind air pollution. On November 28, The Indian Express had published a report in which residents have attributed the rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases to the smoke emitted from the plant.
“As per civic data, 2,058 TB cases were reported from this ward alone. In 2021 alone, 5,080 cases were reported, which is roughly 10 per cent of the total cases reported in Mumbai. Smoke emitted from the plant creates pollution,” the letter stated. It added that a report by TISS has said that the entire area is full of bio hazards, leading to a decline in life expectancy level. The plant has been blamed for the same, the letter said.
A citizen’s welfare group, New Sangam Welfare Society, has also written to the Union ministry on Tuesday, seeking relocation of the plant, it further said.
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