The newly constituted pollution task force of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) had a field day on Tuesday, with workers responding to reports of bonfires and waste burning from various parts of the state capital.
The task force was constituted at a meeting chaired by Municipal Commissioner Harendra Narayan late on Monday evening. The meeting concluded with plans to uphold a ban on bonfires and the open burning of municipal waste. Officials formalised the decision to discontinue the distribution of free firewood to the poor while clarifying that alternative arrangements would be made for Rain Basera night shelters and bus stands.
Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) officials also attended the meeting and provided technical inputs and suggestions to civic body officials. Officials later said that warning letters would also be issued to eateries and wedding venues to curb the use of solid fuels—wood and coal—at their premises.
Pollution control checks will be intensified throughout the city, and municipal workers will enhance the deployment of water sprinklers to reduce stagnating particulate matter levels.
The Municipal Commissioner directed the immediate removal of construction and demolition waste from project sites, which must be covered with green nets throughout the civil work.
Narayan said that citizen cooperation is a prerequisite for an immediate improvement in the pollution situation in the city. A helpline (155304) has also been dedicated to those wishing to draw attention to pollution-related events in their neighbourhoods.
The Commissioner also gave strict instructions to intensify spot fines, remove dust from both central and side verges, and deploy 10 mechanised road-sweeping vehicles for road cleaning.
On Tuesday, municipal workers responded to several complaints, including a tyre-burning incident reported from the vicinity of the Bhopal Junction railway station. Municipal workers reached the spot and put out the fire, which was releasing clouds of dark toxic smoke in the area.
Incidentally, Bhopal is one among the 130 non attainment and million plus cities earmarked for improvements under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)NCAP envisages reduction in PM10 level up to 40% or achievement of national standards (60 microgram/cubic meter) by 2025-26.
