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A bench of Chief Justice Shri Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad constituted an independent five-member committee, comprising officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the public health department of the state government, to inspect the construction sites and ensure whether the guidelines are being followed.
The court, hearing several petitions raising concerns over the deteriorating AQI in Mumbai, directed the BMC and MPCB to submit an action taken report on December 15 regarding the measures taken by them in 2024.
Lawyers for the petitioners said that the AQI in the country’s financial capital has been deteriorating every year since 2023.
On this, Chief Justice Chandrashekhar said that it will take some time to deal with this issue.
The court said, “It will take some time. Delhi has been struggling for more than 15 years. In fact, Mumbai has some advantages. In Mumbai, it can be done.”
The court also sought an action taken report from BMC and MPCB in 2024 on the steps taken to address the issue.
It said records of visits by special squads to construction sites, installation of CCTV cameras and sensor-based air pollution monitors, for which the BMC has granted permission, will remain open for scrutiny.
“Let us ensure that construction sites and dust pollution are dealt with. This can be done immediately in one to two weeks. These will be some effective measures,” the bench remarked.
Senior advocate Darius Khambatta, who was appointed by the court to assist, said on Friday that the guidelines set by the court in 2024 for construction sites, including CCTV cameras, sensor-based air pollution monitors and water sprinkling, were not being followed.
Senior advocate Milind Sathe, appearing for BMC, said there are special squads which conduct random checks at construction sites.
Khambatta said vehicle pollution has been identified as another major source of air pollution.
However, the bench said that vehicular pollution can be dealt with easily and at a later stage, and said it did not want to pass any order which would give an opportunity to the authorities to take arbitrary action.
“They (officials) will start seizing and issuing challans. The orders should not lead to harassment of citizens,” the court said.