Air pollution: Bombay HC appoints team for inspection of construction sites in Mumbai

Small steps

The division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said that instead of giving many directions that may create confusion, small steps can be taken to suggest how air pollution can be brought within permissible limits. The court agreed that there is a need for a long-term plan which will take time, noting that Delhi has been struggling for 15 to 20 years.

“…a team of five members, constituting one official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), two members of civil society and one public health official. The team shall be provided with all logistics, transport and security personnel for entry into construction sites,” the bench said. The members of the team and the areas to visit will be decided and submitted later in the day to the court.

Earlier during the hearing, amicus curiae Senior Advocate Darius Khambata told the court that one of the major reasons for pollution was identified to be dust from construction sites, and the court had passed detailed orders in 2023-24 on 27 guidelines that the BMC had to ensure compliance with. These included sensors at construction sites and monitoring whether steps are being taken to reduce the dust, including sprinkling water, and covering the vehicles during transportation of material. He said that, as per a newspaper report, of the 1,000 construction sites in the city, only 400 have sensor monitors, and 117 of those are not working. The court was also told by the BMC counsel that the sensors are yet to be connected to a central monitoring system.

“There has to be a concerted plan and not a knee-jerk reaction whenever the air quality is bad. The long-term plan will take time, but if even putting monitors mandated by the court order in 2023 is taking this long to implement, it is concerning,” Khambata submitted to the court. It was discussed that while vehicular traffic is also a cause for pollution, which can be dealt with easily, the court said that it would want to avoid causing harassment to citizens. The court was informed that committees were already in place, appointed during previous hearings, to which the bench said that it would want an independent survey on the steps being taken. It said that it would first deal with the specific area of pollution caused at construction sites.

Senior Counsel Milind Sathe, who is representing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), informed the court that there are special squads in place in each ward that visit construction sites and stop-work notices have also been given in cases of violations. Senior Counsel Janak Dwarkadas, representing NGO Vanashakti, said that many of these steps are only on paper, seeking stricter compliance. He also informed the court that a committee appointed by the high court was to submit weekly reports on compliance with the guidelines, but they had not received the reports since March.

“We are thinking how to verify the facts… they are saying that they are monitoring… let us get some records, maybe ward-wise… instead of asking the BMC to file another report… we want a report from some independent source,” the court said, appointing the team.

Health advisory

The court also directed that the BMC and the public health department, in the meantime, issue a public health advisory as ‘awareness for citizens to protect themselves from air pollution’ and suggested distribution of masks in major public spots like railway stations and bus stops.

An intervener on behalf of a consortium of developers also told the court that while the BMC has mandated installing the sensors, they are provided only 13 approved vendors, who are unable to provide the sensors for 15,000 sites across the city. The court then directed the intervener to file an affidavit.