To tackle Mumbai air pollution, BMC’s Gagrani says to start ‘very heavy-duty’ penalties on construction projects

BMC’s steps and the challenges it faces

Speaking to The Indian Express, Gagrani said to instrumentality much stringent measures, BMC has started incorporating provisions for penalties, successful lawsuit of violations, successful its contracts for projects, including those of concretisation. Gagrani besides said aged contracts and small-scale redevelopment projects amongst different factors person emerged arsenic immoderate cardinal challenges successful its ongoing crackdown against rising aerial contamination successful Mumbai.

“Whenever we contented contracts, determination has to beryllium a proviso for imposing definite penalties for definite defaults. Some of the aged contracts don’t person specified provisions, and adjacent if they are there, past it’s precise minimal. Therefore, from present onwards, we person started precise heavy-duty penalisation regular connected projects including the concretisation works. In each contracts, we are ensuring important penalties for each defaults. Otherwise, what happens is that, if we levy penalties, they spell to courts and get a enactment due to the fact that determination is nary contractual provision.”

Gagrani added the civic assemblage has ramped up its enactment against violators done stop-work notices and accrued vigilance. For the record, BMC has issued show-cause notices to 856 violators for flouting particulate mitigation norms successful Mumbai betwixt October and December 2024. These violators are chiefly contractors who were appointed to transportation retired civic and infrastructure works successful Mumbai by the administrative agencies.

Currently, Gagrani said, trenching works person besides been suspended successful astatine slightest 7 BMC wards. “While trenching is not an issue, the occupation is that the enactment is not executed wrong the stipulated time. If immoderate digging oregon operation enactment is done arsenic per the norms laid down for them specified arsenic installing greenish barriers, keeping the interior enactment tract cleanable by watering areas etc. But these norms are often flouted,” helium said.

Focus connected Byculla and Borivali

Responding to questions astir different challenges, Gagrani added redevelopment projects unfolding wrong tiny plots are besides a cardinal origin successful areas similar Byculla, which often reel nether ‘poor air’. On Wednesday too, Byculla recorded a mediocre AQI of 212.

“Recently, we stopped enactment successful Borivali and Byculla for much than 3 weeks, and AQI improved significantly,” said Gagrani. “In our investigation of Byculla, we recovered that it is simply a emblematic lawsuit of precise tiny plots. The full B, C, and E wards are witnessing redevelopment, with respective redevelopment works mushrooming wrong tiny plots of 200 to 250 quadrate metre. These are specified tiny plots that determination is hardly abstraction for barricading. We are evaluating stricter measures for these small-scale redevelopment works.”

According to Gagrani, particulate and substance — too the meteorological factors — are amongst the main causes of contamination successful Mumbai. “Besides 2 powerfulness plants, Mumbai hardly has immoderate industries and contamination successful the metropolis is mostly particulate and fuel-related. Fuel-related factors are chiefly vehicular emissions and burning from nutrient stalls, bakeries etc,” said Gagrani.