In several major preventive measures announced to bring down severe air pollution levels in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday evening made it mandatory for builders and developers to set up 35 feet high iron sheet enclosures on all 6,000-odd construction sites across the metropolis and wrap the entire building under construction with green cloth, jute sheet or tarpaulin.
Taking serious cognizance of the fact that on Tuesday, Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index touched 191, worse than that of Delhi’s 84 and on Wednesday, the levels of inhalable Particulate Matter PM 10 crossed that of the national capital, the BMC announced several to arrest the increasing the air pollution levels in the country’s commercial capital.
In an effort to supplement its efforts, the BMC also announced that on October 23, it would come out with Standard Operative Procedures (SOPs) /guidelines for ensuring better quality of air in Mumbai.
Apart from making it mandatory for builders and developers 35-feet high iron sheet enclosures atop the construction and wrapping the under- construction structures with green cloth, jute sheet and tarpaulin, the BMC also made provision of sprinkler systems and anti-smog guns within 30 days on all construction sites mandatory and decided to operate anti-smog guns on 50 to 60 major roads in the metropolis.
In another measure, the BMC announced that it would requisition experts to check pollution caused by major refineries — Tata Power Plant and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF).
In a statement issued here in the evening, BMC Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal directed all the stakeholders to ensure that the pollution caused by dust due to nearly 6000 construction sites all over Mumbai is monitored by the concerned agencies and all remedial and preventive measures shall be taken as discussed during the meeting.
Among other things, Chahal said that the Government and the private agencies would be treated at par and any violations shall be dealt with by issuing stop-work notices at the site itself.
“We will issue SOPs/guidelines for ensuring better air quality on Monday,” Chahal said.
The Municipal Commissioner directed the stakeholders to comply with remedial measures in various fields including building constructions, transportation of vehicles, and industrial activity.
Spelling out measures announced for the construction industry, Chahal said: “Any construction site having area of one acre or above shall compulsorily have an iron sheet enclosure of 35 feet high on all sides.
For area less than one acre construction site, the iron sheet enclosure shall be of 25 feet height”
