Mitigating air pollution: BMC visits 815 construction sites, issues notices to 461 in a day

According to the BMC, civic officials visited 815 construction sites across island city as well as the western and the eastern suburbs on November 3, following which intimation notices were issued to 461 sites, reiterating the guidelines of the latest mitigation plans. The officials also warned of “stop work” notices if they were found violating the norms. “A strong warning has been given by the BMC of strict action like sealing the workplace,” read a BMC bulletin.

The inspection was carried out by ward level enforcement squads, whose deployment was called for by the BMC’s mitigation plan. As per the guidelines, municipal commissioner and state appointed administrator, Iqbal Singh Chahal has instructed ward officers to deploy an enforcement squad to ensure the guidelines are implemented and illegal dumping of debris from the construction and demolition sites is prevented.

The squad, led by a senior ward official, comprises two ward level engineers, one policeman, one marshal and a vehicle. While the larger wards of the city are slated to have six squads each, middle sized and small wards will have of four and two squads respectively.

According to the data in the Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan (MAPMP) document, the key factor contributing to pollution in Mumbai is the dust arising from the construction and demolition work on the string of ongoing projects, followed by road dust and its resuspension into the air.

Seeking to keep a tab on the violations, the BMC norms stated, “The enforcement squad shall visit the premises and video graph the worksite. If it is observed that the worksite is not adhering to mitigation provisions, stringent action such as issue of stop work notice and/or sealing of worksite shall be taken immediately.”