Mumbai: Since last week, Mumbai has been grappling with poor and unhealthy air quality leading to smoggy skies and low visibility. As unsettled dust particles is the major factor contributing to the deteriorating Air Quality Index (AQI), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is implementing its Dust Mitigation Plan.

“As immediate measures to control air pollution in the city, BMC has developed a special SOP for curbing construction waste, suppressing dust and improving AQI,” Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Solid Waste Management (SWM) Kiran Dighavkar said.

On Wednesday, the AQI in several areas of Mumbai continued to fall under the ‘Poor’ to ‘Very Poor’ category. The areas with the poorest AQIs included Borivali East (304), Navy Nagar-Colaba (300), Mazgaon (286), Malad West (265), Siddharth Nagar-Worli (247), Sewri (217) and others, the Central Pollution Control Board recorded.

As immediate measures to mitigate air pollution and suppress dust to improve the AQI of Mumbai, the BMC has deployed a total of 96 machines (including water tankers and misting machines) and 73 vehicles (including JCB, Dumpers, mechanical sweepers, E-sweepers).

On Wednesday, 355 clean-up marshals deployed, and until 6 pm, the civic staff washed and cleaned 254 kilometres of roads in Mumbai. The staff also collected 244 tons of construction waste and debris. “A fine of Rs 56,700 has been collected from six defaulters who were transporting unauthorised construction debris,” Dighavkar said.

Dighavkar has instructed all seven civic administrative zones in Mumbai to take immediate measures to control dust pollution, which includes keeping a record of the quantity of dust accumulated in each sweeping machine every day along with photographs of the work done.

The other instructions include water sprinkling activities on the roads with immediate effect, progressive use of sweeping machines on maximum roads especially major roads highways to suck the dust, deployment of Clean up Marshall/Nuisance Detectors to check vehicles carrying construction debris and necessary actions including penalties for vehicles carrying unauthorised debris, clearing debris spread on the road due to road construction site activities.

The deputy municipal commissioner has also instructed Clean up Marshall/Nuisance Detectors to take action on the burning of waste on priority.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, due to the decreased humidity and increased construction work post-monsoon, dust accumulates mid-air. Until the dust particles settle on the ground, the skies will continue to be smoggy.