BMC brings in detailed guidelines to curb rising pollution, issues stern warning for non-compliance

2. All construction layouts having an area of more than one acre shall have tin/metal sheet erected of height 35 feet at least around the periphery of the construction project sites. For sites with an area of less than one acre, the tin/metal sheet height should be at least 25 feet.

3. All the buildings under construction must be enclosed from all sides with green cloth, jute sheet, or tarpaulin.

4. All the structures under demolition shall be covered with tarpaulin, green cloth, or jute sheet from top to bottom. There shall be continuous sprinkling or spraying of water during the process of demolishing the structure.

5. It shall be ensured that water fogging shall be carried out during the loading and unloading of materials at the construction sites.

6. The water sprinkling shall be done on debris, earth materials, and other items which are prone to generate air-borne particulate matter at all construction sites without fail.

7. All vehicles carrying construction materials shall be fully covered (i.e. from top and all sides) so that construction material or debris does not become airborne during transportation. Overloading of vehicles should be avoided to prevent spillage.

8. All construction sites shall install CCTV cameras along the periphery of their work sites to ensure that vehicles are plying after cleaning tyres and are not overloaded.

9. All construction sites to deploy sensor-based air pollution monitors at work sites and take immediate action if pollution levels exceed the limit. This monitoring shall be made available for inspection to BMC authorities as and when demanded.

10. All the work sites shall ensure that the grinding, cutting, drilling, sawing and trimming work is carried out in an enclosed area with continuous water sprinkling or fogging to prevent fugitive air emissions.

11. All the construction sites shall ensure that Construction and Demolition waste generated within the premises/site of work is transported to designated unloading sites strictly as per BMC’s C & D waste management plan. After unloading the debris, the vehicle shall be washed and cleaned thoroughly.

12. Vehicles carrying materials must have valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates, which should be presented when requested by competent authorities.

13. AII the construction personnel and managers shall mandatorily wear personal protective equipment such as masks, goggles, helmets, etc.

14. All the BMC worksites like bridges and flyovers shall have a barricading of 25 feet.

15. All the metro works above ground shall be covered with barricading of 25 feet height. The construction site shall be covered with with tarpaulin, green cloth, or jute sheet. Smog guns and water sprinklers should be used during construction work.

16. The mitigation measures suggested above shall be mandatorily observed by other agencies like SRA, MHADA, MIDC, MSRDC, MMRDA, BPT, Airport Authority of India, Railways, Govt. or Semi Govt. authorities and private construction sites.

17. All Assistant Commissioners in charge of wards shall arrange to deploy special squads to prevent illegal construction and demolition dumping at late night.

18. All Assistant Commissioners in charge of wards shall deploy squads for air pollution mitigation enforcement comprising Two (Ward) engineers, One Policeman, One marshall, Vehicle. Each squad shall be headed by one senior officer from the ward. The formation and deployment of these squads at the ward level shall be done immediately. The number of squads ward-wise shall be as follows: Smaller wards (2 squads each ward); Middle size wards (4 squads each ward); Larger size wards (6 squads each ward).

19. The enforcement squad shall visit the premises and videograph the work site. If it is observed that the worksite is not adhering to above stated provisions, stringent action such as issuing of Stop Work notice and/or sealing of the worksite shall be taken immediately.

20. The timeline for procurement of sprinklers shall be 15 days, and for procurement of smog guns shall be 30 days from issuance of this circular. All the project proponents and contractors shall abide by the above timelines without fail.

21. The vehicles carrying construction material or C & D material, if found not adhering to above stated provisions, shall be seized and impounded.

22. The Transport Commissioner shall take action against the overloading of vehicles, uncovered vehicles, vehicles spilling construction materials on roads, and heavy-duty diesel vehicles which are more than 8 years old, shall be strictly prohibited in Mumbai jurisdiction.

23. MPCB shall monitor the air pollution emitted from industries such as BPCL, HPCL, RCF, Tata Power, industries in nearby MIDC area etc. daily for the next one month and take appropriate action.

24. All builders and developers shall engage only those vehicles which possess a vehicle tracking system installed on them.

25. The loose soil, sand, construction materials and debris of any kind and quantity shall be stored in a demarcated/dedicated area and properly barricaded, fully covered/enclosed/protected with tarpaulins. It shall be ensured that there is no dumping of construction material and debris on public roads, footpaths’ pavements and open areas.

26. Vehicle tyre washing facility shall be provided at all exit points of construction sites. It shall be ensured that daily cleaning is carried out of major roads for removal of dust by using vacuum sweeping or water sprinkling, brushing’ brooming and sweeping. This work may be outsourced to ensure wide and fast coverage of all major roads in one month’s time.

27. There shall be a complete ban on open burning anywhere in the geographical area under BMC, especially garbage dumping grounds and possible sites of trash burning.

The BMC earlier had said that construction is currently underway at 6,000 locations in Mumbai. Climate change is adversely affecting the air quality of the Mumbai metropolitan area, including the Mumbai region. As a result of this, it has been observed that there is an increase in air pollution.