BMC claims improvement in Mumbai’s air quality, says GRAP-4 not yet implemented

The BMC on Monday (December 1) said Mumbai’s air quality has improved significantly since November 26 due to several pollution-control measures in the city and its suburbs, while show cause notices have been issued to 482 construction sites for violating pollution norms.

The civic body said that out of 482 construction projects, 264 have been given ‘stop work’ notices. “Show cause notices have been issued to 482 construction sites across Mumbai for allegedly violating air pollution control guidelines and contributing to deteriorating air quality,” civic officials said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also clarified that the Graded Response Action Plan Stage-4 (GRAP-4), a set of strict restrictions aimed at curbing air pollution, is not currently applicable on Mumbai, although intensive monitoring has been directed.

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According to a release, municipal commissioner and BMC administrator Bhushan Gagrani has directed officials to continue taking strict action against private construction sites as well as government and non-government projects that violate the civic body’s 28-point dust and pollution-mitigation guidelines.

The BMC said improvement in wind speed as well as enforcement measures like notices to ill-conceived construction projects, fogging, water sprinkling, road washing, awareness campaigns and steps by bakeries and crematoriums to adopt clean fuel have contributed to the improvement in AQI (air quality index) in the last 48 hours.

The civic body said the wind speed, which was 3-4 km per hour with high humidity before November 28, has now increased to 10-18 km per hour, helping spread pollution in the financial capital.

BMC has formed 94 ward-level flying squads to monitor the implementation of pollution abatement measures. These teams are inspecting private sites as well as road and metro project portions, issuing stop work notices wherever violations are found. The release claimed that the squad is also checking sensor-based AQI monitoring devices at construction sites.

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AQI is a number that agencies use to show the level of air pollution in an area. AQI has 6 categories, which are good (0-50), satisfactory (51-100), moderately polluted (101-200), poor (201-300), very poor (301-400), and severe (401-500). Mumbai’s GRAP-4 rules mostly cover construction sites, small industrial units and related activities.