Mumbai civic body bans garbage burning in the open, sends notices to 6,000 construction sites

The new set of guidelines to mitigate air pollution announced by the BMC said, “There shall be a complete ban on open burning anywhere in the geographical area under BMC, especially garbage dumping grounds and possible sites of trash burning.”

A heap of garbage being burnt by the roadside in Uran area of Navi Mumbai. Narendra Vaskar

Besides sending notices to construction sites, the BMC said it will soon deploy 30 ‘clean up marshals’ in each of the city’s 24 wards who would monitor spitting, littering, garbage dumping and burning, and levy fines. In certain hotspots, where the Air Quality Index has sharply deteriorated, the BMC also plans to install air-purifiers too.

As part of the Express Series ‘Death by Breath’, the newspaper had on Wednesday carried a report “Burning trash, choking air: How BMC took its eyes off waste mountain”. The report highlighted how garbage burning continued unabated due to the civic body’s inaction and how it adversely affected public health, especially of children. Burning waste is one of the primary sources of PM 2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) and toxic fumes pollute the air.

Stating the government was serious about controlling pollution, Kesarkar told The Indian Express he will personally monitor the civic body’s action every week. “Earlier nobody took a review of these issues in the civic body, however, now I am going to closely monitor this situation and take a review every week. We are hopeful that the city’s air quality sees an improvement within the next two months,” he said.

The Express Series launched on October 19 will continue to report over the following days and weeks all aspects of the city’s air pollution crisis and the possible solutions and interventions. On Wednesday, the report highlighted that one of the key aspects of solid waste management relates to segregation, given the increasing quantum of garbage collected by the civic body every year.

In 2022-23, BMC collected an average of 6,385 metric tonne a day (MTD) garbage from its 24 municipal wards, 15 per cent more than 2021-22. While BMC’s waste segregation is restricted to residential buildings and gated societies, more than one-fifth of the waste is collected from just three wards (L, G/North, K/East). Dharavi, the largest slum cluster in the country, falls in Ward G/ North, where segregation of waste is not carried out due to lack of awareness.

It also pointed to the fact that while garbage burning is rampant, BMC does not have any record of penalties imposed despite having a bye-law, effective since December 2006.

Addressing the media at the BMC headquarters, Guardian Minister Kesarkar acknowledged that Air Quality Index (AQI) readings are high around the landfills. “The AQI monitoring machines around the periphery of landfills are showing high AQI reading. We are reviewing our existing method of garbage dumping and will also try to improve the existing infrastructure the civic body has in place for waste processing. We will also set up curtains and protection walls to prevent the leachate discharged from entering the river and sea.”

Kesarkar also said the BMC is exploring bio-mining, a scientific method of extracting pollutants from metal waste.

Read Death By Breath Series – Mumbai holds its breath | Why construction dust is lethal | BMC’s rulebook gets a burial

Referring to pollution from dust linked to construction work — The Indian Express had highlighted this in its October 19 ‘Death by Breath’ series ground report from six sites, Kesarkar said notices to all construction sites across the city had been issued.

“The civic body has sent notices to 6,000 construction sites where civil works related to various private and government infrastructure projects are being taken up…. At present, Mumbai is witnessing heavy lifting of construction works which is contributing to the city’s poor AQI. We have sent a notice to all the contractors, stakeholders and agencies involved in the civil works, and have asked them to set up fogging machines and water sprinklers at the site. If they fail to do so, action will be taken,” he said.

Further, authorities are also exploring options like installing air purifiers in some locations recording bad AQI. A team of civic officials was sent to Lucknow where smog guns are in use to wash out the suspended particulate matter from the air, Kesarkar said. He also said that the state government as well as the BMC are studying dust mitigation measures taken in Delhi while executing the Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

Climate change, the dip in La Nina — the cooling of the ocean surface — and changing wind patterns have all played a role in the change on the city’s pollution cycle. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)

“The state government has already set up a team and several preventive measures are being chalked out. We may set up air filters in some hotspots. The advisory that  in construction sites, water should be sprinkled multiple times to ensure that loose soil components do not linger in the lower atmosphere for a longer period, will be closely monitored,” said the guardian minister.

After the city reeled under very poor AQI during last winter, the BMC had in March this year prepared a Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan (MAPMP). As part of the guidelines in the 41-page plan, the BMC officials said they will take action against parties which do not follow the dust mitigation norms.

In response to The Indian Express report on Wednesday on garbage burning, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it was working towards framing the Solid Waste Management (SWM) guidelines. “The BMC is currently in the process of revising new solid waste management bye laws, aimed at establishing rigorous rules and regulations for the effective management of municipal solid waste,” it said in a statement.

A local train is seen running amid hazy conditions. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The civic body said it is in the process of deploying ‘Clean Up Marshalls’ — troops which will monitor littering, garbage dumping, and burning, and levy penalties —  in all the ward. In the proposed system, 30 Clean Up Marshals will be deployed in each of the 24 wards in the city, it said.

“The BMC has awarded two contracts for C&D (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management which are expected to be commissioned in February 2024. Additionally, there is a 300 TPD (tonnes per day) operational plant from Godrej.  BMC is also exploring setting up five decentralised biogas facilities in hospitals, which would divert the wet waste generated from the kitchens and use it as fuel back in the kitchens,” it said in the statement.