Poor air quality in Mumbai: 650 km of roads to be washed daily to reduce dust

BMC workers clean the dust from a footpath on Borivli Link Road with water on Thursday. Pic/Nimesh Dave

The Brihanmumbai Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to wash roads across the city with a total length of 650 km daily to reduce dust. The civic body will use treated or non-potable water for this exercise.

The civic solid waste department shared a detailed plan for cleaning roads at a meeting held by Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Sudhakar Shinde on Friday.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Chanda Jadhav said, "Now we are cleaning roads that are more than 60 feet wide. We are also cleaning around 650 km of roads. We have asked ward offices to identify roads that see more footfall, dust issues and traffic. The BMC will use treated grey water or non-potable water from ponds wells and borewells. Road washing is being done during off-peak hours, especially between 3 am to 6 am. If there is less traffic in some sections. It will be done in the afternoon or evening."

"The washing of roads and footpaths will be done within three to four hours. For this, the number of cleaning vehicles is being increased," she added.
"For this purpose, 121 water tankers and other plants and manpower have been appointed," said Dr Shinde.

He also directed that vehicles carrying construction material and debris should have a vehicle tracking and monitoring system (VTMS) so the civic body can easily monitor the movement of vehicles. Shinde also directed that the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation should be informed about the cleaning of toll plazas.

Notice to 100 contractors

The BMC has, meanwhile, served notices to more than 100 contractors and real estate firms engaged in executing private and government projects, asking them to adhere to dust mitigation norms or face action, civic officials said as the metropolis battles poor air quality.

The BMC communication covers contractors and real estate firms in the P North civic ward in western Mumbai, mainly the suburb of Malad, as the civic body seeks to improve Mumbai's Air Quality Index (AQI). Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner (P North ward), said on Friday that there are 97 under-construction private sites and 27 under-construction government projects such as roads, stormwater drains and bridges in the Malad area, bringing the total to 124.

"We have issued (identically worded) letters to all of them to follow (dust mitigation and other anti-pollution) guidelines failing which necessary actions will be initiated," Dighavkar said. Last week, the civic body issued a new set of guidelines for mitigation of air pollution in Mumbai and gave builders and contractors one month to acquire sprinklers and fogging machines at construction sites.

Clarifying that the civic administration has not issued stop-work notices to entities engaged in construction as of now, Dighavkar insisted that letters have been sent to ensure builders and contractors follow basic preventive measures against air pollution.

97
Private sites under construction in P North ward

27
Government sites under construction in P North ward

Inputs from agencies