Mumbai: 350 filters being fitted on BEST buses

A vehicle-mounted air filtration unit on an automobile

BEST buses are being fitted with 350 air filters to keep air pollution under control, Deepak Kesarkar, guardian minister, Mumbai Suburban district, said on Wednesday.

While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has already declared various measures to control pollution at its source, it is also looking for remedies for dusty air. Now, the civic body along with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has started the process of installing air filters. Kesarkar said at a press conference, "Out of the 350 filters, 150 will be vehicle-mounted ones and the other 200 will be detachable. This is being done on a trial basis and based on the results, we will decide the further course of action."

A BMC official said the MPCB would provide the filters. The project is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity and was on the slow track but after a recent meeting, the process has been started. The machines will be installed as and when they are available.

In a technical committee meeting held in September under the chairmanship of the principal secretary, department of environment and climate change, Maharashtra government, along with representatives of experts, industry and technology developers, solutions such as virtual chimneys at traffic/busy places, vehicle mounted air purifiers, filterless air purification technology machines, wind augmentation and purifying machines were discussed.

Kesarkar said, "We are looking at various technologies. These technologies will be used on a pilot basis so they won't get wasted. We will install virtual chimneys at 10 spots and ‘Streetlight - Vayu' technology at 50 locations." Smart street lights are attached with sensors that sense the concentration of pollutants and measure the amount of pollution.

Apart from it, air purification systems will be installed in six gardens including Diamond garden and another one at Chembur, Shivaji Park at Dadar, Rani Baug at Byculla, SK Patil garden at Marine Lines and Bhakti Park garden at Wadala. Apart from that, the civic body has already ordered 30 vehicles mounted with sprinklers, which are also called fog cannons. Asked if there will be restrictions on crackers during Diwali, Kesarkar said that the Maharashtra government always appeals to the people to burst fewer crackers than before.