With Mumbai on the verge of experiencing a poor Air Quality Index (AQI), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday announced the implementation of several advisories to prevent the city’s air quality from deteriorating.
The BMC administration on Monday ordered the officers of all 26 municipal wards to submit weekly reports on solid waste management (SWM) and dust abatement measures.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Mumbai’s overall AQI reading on Monday was 135 which is labeled as moderate. In the last one week, the city’s average AQI rose above 190.
Meanwhile suburban pockets like Malad continued to record a poor AQI of 227 on Monday. Earlier last week, several pockets of Mumbai, including Deonar, Govandi, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Sewri, recorded ‘poor’ AQI readings.
According to CPCB, an AQI reading between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is considered satisfactory, 101-200 is considered moderate, 201-300 is considered poor, 301-400 is considered very poor and above. 400 is considered serious.
While experts have attributed the decline in AQI standards to a combination of natural and man-made factors, civic officials have maintained that new guidelines have been implemented to ensure compliance with dust mitigation measures.
As per the latest guidelines of BMC, the civic authorities will carry out extensive cleaning and dusting of roads using mechanical sweepers. The guideline also mentions daily sprinkling of water on the road surface to prevent dust migration.
The BMC maintained that in each of the 26 municipal wards, a team of assistant engineers should monitor if mitigation measures are being followed on the ground.
“All Assistant Engineers should monitor whether these activities are followed on the ground and submit a report to the Chief Engineer and Deputy Municipal Commissioner (SWM) specifying data regarding the number of inspections, actions taken and improvements observed,” read the BMC’s guidelines. .
In addition, the BMC has also directed that the vehicles carrying construction debris should be covered to prevent them from slipping and that the vehicles will be fined if they are found carrying illegal waste on the road.
Environmentalist and founder of NGO Vatavaran Bhagwan Kesbhat said that besides implementing measures to control dust reduction within Mumbai, the administration also needs to formulate a blanket rule for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
“External factors like industrial emissions are also contributing factors in this situation. Unfiltered industrial emissions from the satellite districts of MMR are trapped in the atmosphere from the satellite regions, then they are pushed downwind towards Mumbai where they are trapped in the lower atmosphere for a long time. Keshabhat said.
“At present, the primary sources of air pollutants such as carbon and nitrogen dioxide are causing a reaction that leads to the formation of secondary particles of PM 2.5 and PM 10 components. Now that the temperature in cities is decreasing, these particles are trapped in the lower atmosphere, where they remain for a long time. This phenomenon is affecting the overall airshed of Mumbai, thus leading to poor AQI in many pockets,” he added.
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