The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued stop-work notices to 53 construction sites for contributing to worsening air pollution as Mumbai continues to record poor Air Quality Index (AQI) levels.
The civic body on Thursday reiterated that its air pollution guidelines must be followed strictly, including the mandatory installation of operational AQI monitoring sensors at construction sites.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (city) Ashwini Joshi warned of stringent action if any AQI sensor is found inactive.
According to the BMC, 662 sensor-based AQI monitoring systems have been installed across the city, with another 251 in progress. Of the installed systems, 400 are linked to a unified data dashboard, while 117 were found inactive during Thursday’s review. Joshi said ward-level flying squads would act against violators.
The Bombay High Court, meanwhile, dismissed claims that volcanic ash from Ethiopia had caused the sudden deterioration in Mumbai’s air quality.
Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan argued that the volcanic eruption had worsened pollution levels, but the court rejected the explanation.
"Even before this eruption, if one stepped out, visibility was poor beyond 500 metres," the bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said, noting that Mumbai’s AQI has been poor “much before” the volcanic activity.
Senior counsels Darius Khambata and Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that the AQI has remained consistently above 300 this month.
The bench also highlighted Delhi’s alarming pollution levels, asking, “What can be the most effective measures? We are all seeing what is happening in Delhi. What is the effect of that?”
The matter will be heard again on Friday.
The Ethiopian shield volcano Hayli Gubbi erupted on Sunday, generating an ash plume rising 14 km into the sky and spreading eastward across the Red Sea towards the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent.
However, the court maintained that the eruption could not be blamed for Mumbai’s long-persistent air quality issues.
As political debate intensified, Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora wrote to BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani urging “immediate and extraordinary action,” including a temporary halt to digging and construction work until air quality improves.
“Mumbai's air pollution crisis is no longer a seasonal issue — it is a public health emergency. India needs a nationwide war and a national consensus against air pollution,” Deora said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray accused the BJP-led government of neglecting citizens’ health concerns.
“In Mumbai, builders and contractors are a priority for the BJP government, while apart from the construction and demolition works, tree felling in the name of development is the new mantra of the BJP,” he alleged.
The BMC said it is taking multiple steps to curb pollution, including requiring bakeries and crematoriums to shift to cleaner fuels, introducing electric buses, enforcing scientific debris management, and using machines to sprinkle water on roads.
The civic body highlighted that of Mumbai’s 593 bakeries, 209 already use clean fuel. An additional 57 transitioned recently, 75 began the shift in the past six months, and 88 have applied for piped natural gas from Mahanagar Gas.
In October last year, the BMC issued 28 guidelines mandating metal fencing and green cloth barriers around construction sites, regular water sprinkling, proper debris storage and transport, installation of air quality monitors, and smoke absorption systems. To enforce compliance, flying squads have been deployed across wards.
Of the 53 stop-work notices issued till November 26, 17 were in Siddharth Nagar (G-South ward), five in Mazgaon (E ward), and 31 in Malad West (P-North ward).