Curbing air pollution: Give heaters to your workers, BMC tells builders

Security guards sit around a fire to keep warm in Thakur Village, Kandivli. File Pic/Satej Shinde

The BMC will ask builders and civic contractors to provide electric heaters or electric stoves to the workers staying at construction sites. The decision aims to stop the burning of wood for cooking or to make fires to keep warm. The BMC issued guidelines for dust mitigation in the city last year after the air quality index (AQI) became worse than Delhi in October 2023. According to the guidelines, BMC has banned burning wood, tyres, and solid waste in Mumbai.

A BMC official told mid-day it was found that labourers living at construction sites burn wood to cook food and during the night, security guards burn tyres or wood to make a fire. "Burning anything in an open area in the city is banned. But we need to provide options to the labourers to cook food. So we will ask builders and government civil contractors to provide electric stoves and heaters to the labourers.

Our ward office teams will inspect the electric stoves and heaters at construction sites," the official said. As per civic estimates, there are around 6,000 construction sites in Mumbai. According to the dust mitigation guidelines, all construction sites should be covered with 35-foot tall metal sheets and also use jute sheets or tarpaulin. Air quality monitoring machines should be installed as part of the compliance measures. The debris should be covered and sprinkled with water.

Last year, BMC took action against 1,000+ construction sites including government project sites. Guidelines say BMC can issue a stop-work notice to any construction where the guidelines are not being followed. If guidelines are not followed even after the notice, the BMC can initiate legal action. A civic official said there is already a suggestion for residential and commercial complexes to provide blankets to security guards so they don't need a fire to keep warm during winter months.

Please burst crackers only till 10 pm: BMC

BMC has appealed to citizens to burst crackers only till 10 pm, which would create less air and sound pollution. The civic body has also advised citizens to not burn dry leaves, paper, or any other materials while bursting firecrackers. Last year, the Bombay High Court put restrictions on the bursting of crackers due to the poor air quality index, giving a time limit to burst crackers from 8 pm to 10 pm. The BMC officials said on Monday that this year there is no such guideline issued, but that they have appealed to citizens due to the pollution level which rises during Diwali.