BMC halts all construction work in Byculla, Borivali to improve Mumbai AQI

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has decided to stop all construction work in Borivli East and Byculla within the next 24 hours as these areas have been recording an Air Quality Index AQI of around 200 for the past few days The work will be allowed to resume once every site is found to be abiding by the civic bodyrsquos 28point dustmitigation measures If required the same step will be taken in Worli and the Navy Nagar area of Colaba after monitoring their AQI levels for the next three daysThe civic body has also decided to file FIRs if construction sites continue operating despite the issuance of stopwork noticesDec 30 The same spot on Monday morning PicSayyed Sameer AbediMunicipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani informed the press about these measures on Monday at the BMC headquartersldquoWe have decided to close all construction sites in Borivli and Byculla East including infrastructure projects of the civic body and state governmentrdquo said Gagrani The order will be implemented in the next 24 hoursrdquo he added furtherCivic chief Bhushan Gagrani addresses the media on MondayldquoWe will allow work to resume on these sites only after they start implementing the civic bodyrsquos 28point dust mitigation guidelinesrdquo the civic chief saidldquoWe will monitor the AQI levels of Worli and Navy Nagar and if there is no improvement construction work will be stopped in these areas We are not thinking of implementing the oddeven formula for vehicles in the cityrdquo said GagraniOct 13 A view of Borivli East from Don Bosco High School on the morning of October 13 PicsPrasun ChoudhariOct 13 A view of Borivli East from Don Bosco High School on the morning of October 13 PicsPrasun ChoudhariThe BMC has issued stopwork notices to 286 sites all over Mumbai If these sites continue to flout guidelines the civic body will file an FIR under Section 52 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act which deals with the penalties for unauthorised development or use of land ldquoThis offence is nonbailablerdquo said the civic chief adding that the BMC would not carry out new trenching work on the roadDec 30 The same spot is shrouded in smog on the morning of December 30ldquoIf any area in the city continues to record an AQI above 200 then construction and industrial activities will be shut under the Graded Response Action Planrdquo said a civic official Also the MPCB will close the concrete readymix stonecrushing and hotmix asphalt plants in such spotsApr 22 The bridge linking Carter Road to the Bandra Worli Sea Link on April 22 PicAshish RajeAir quality alertsGagrani said that sending out alerts informing citizens about poor air quality in the manner messages are issued during the monsoon could be considered ldquoBut pollution is a very local phenomenon The AQI levels in Borivli East and West are not the same It alerts can create panic so we need to consider this too before implementing any such ideasrdquo he saidDec 30 The same structure is veiled in haze on December 30 PicSayyed Sameer AbediAvinash Dhakne member secretary of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board who was present at the press conference said ldquoAt present we are not allowing any new readymix concrete plants in the city Also we have ordered that all these plants in Mumbai be fully coveredrdquoBMC staffers spray water outside the Otters Club in Bandra West as part of the civic bodyrsquos dustmitigation measures on Monday PicSayyed Sameer AbediGagrani claimed the AQI level of the city had improved compared to the past three years ldquoWe are taking various longterm majors to improve air quality However a lot of redevelopment and infrastructure work is ongoing Construction dust and vehicle emissions are major contributors to the pollution of the city There are around 2200 ongoing private construction projects in the cityrdquoSince November the BMC has cleared 342 tonnes of dust from roads and begun the process of closing 77 bakeries that are fuelled by wood To date the municipal corporation has received 412 complaints on its Mumbai Air app of which 350 were addressed286No of sites that have been issued stopwork notices by BMC2200No of ongoing private construction projects in the city