Mulund’s ‘hazardous’ AQI prompts BMC to initiate dust-mitigation measures

On Thursday morning, a delegation of BMC’s T-ward official inspected some places pointed out by residents, and said they would write to sewerage project department as well as the building proposal department, asking them to direct contractors to implement dust-mitigation measures.

Chakrapani Alle, assistant municipal commissioner from T ward, confirmed the development with The Indian Express on Thursday. “The roads dug up for laying sewerage lines have led to dust pollution. Apart from this, several private builders who have taken up real-estate projects are not implementing dust mitigation techniques. We have taken note of the situation and will be writing to the departments concerned, asking them to issue immediate directives to their contractors to do the needful,” Alle said.

Civic officials also said that a one-kilometer stretch on Marathon Avenue in Mulund has been affected the most.

Another senior civic official said that in the letter sent to the departments, it has been mentioned that contractors must wash and sweep the dug up roads at least thrice a day to reduce the presence of dust-particles in the lower atmosphere. They have also asked the sewerage project department to concretise the entire road once sewerage pipelines have been laid. The officials further said that the building proposal department has been asked to direct contractors to use dust curtains and to cover truck carriages when debris is being transported.

“To lay a 300-mm pipeline for sewerage, a one-km stretch on Marathon Road in Mulund has been dug up, which has increased the dust pollution level. Real-estate work is a key contributor to dust pollution,” this official said.

Mihir Kotecha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Mulund, who was present during the inspection on Thursday, has written to municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) urging them to take action against the contractors. In his letter, Kotecha has claimed that AQI in Mulund has breached the 500 mark, which is termed as ‘severe’ or ‘hazardous’ as per national standards. Kotecha has also claimed that 22 people in his constituency have fallen ill and more than 500 residents are suffering regularly due to poor AQI.

“I have been monitoring the AQI in Mulund and the readings are alarming. The administration needs to pull up it socks and should declare emergency measures under the Climate Protection Act,” Kotecha said.

Mahesh Khatwani, a local resident from Mulund said trucks that carry construction debris from the sites don’t follow any measures during transportation. “Even places like Yogi Hills, in the periphery of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), which are supposed to be cleaner than other areas, are filled with dust nowadays because of un-monitored debris transportation and construction work. The situation in Mulund is bery grim and the state needs to take action,” he said.