To mitigate the growing issue of dust pollution in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is set to acquire a fleet of 12 dust mitigation vehicles at a cost of nearly Rs 75 crore over the next one month. These battery-operated vehicles, equipped with a dust suction machine mounted on its top, will also have sprinklers added to them. Earlier in 2023, the BMC had released the Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan (MAPMP) - under which the authorities identified road dust to be a primary source of air pollution in Mumbai followed by vehicular emission, garbage burning and smoke emitted from roadside eateries and bakeries. Civic officials said the objective behind acquiring these vehicles is to keep the dust pollution in check. "These machines will be deployed at areas like Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), and Western Express Highway (WEH) that record high vehicle flow. The idea is to keep the dust displacement under control during the winter. Usually, during the winter season the wind speeds are low due to which the particulate matter lingers in the air for a longer period of time increasing pollution level," said an official. Civic officials said that initially a fleet of 12 vehicles will be deployed at a cost of Rs 75 crore. The authorities maintained that the contract cost will also include operation and maintenance charges for a period of two years. These vehicles will have sweepers attached to them which will collect the dust particles and store them in an in-built chamber. These chambers will store the dust items and will transport it to the waste collection van after it reaches full capacity. Following this, the vans will transport the dust items to the BMC's debris processing centre to recycle it. “The vans will also have sprinklers added to them. These sprinklers will be responsible for spraying water or mist whenever the pollutant level goes up," the official added. At present, the civic authorities have floated the tender for acquiring these vans and they are awaiting response. Over the past three years, Mumbai has been recording consistent bad air quality days especially due to the various ongoing infrastructure project work and construction work that are underway. This year, as Diwali falls on October 21, so in line with previous years, it is anticipated that Mumbai's air quality would plummet owing to bursting of firecrackers and slowing down of wind patterns due to setting in the winter season.
