Mumbai: One in every five dust-making sites is in Andheri East

An under-construction bridge site opposite Ansa Industrial Estate at Saki Vihar Road, Andheri East. Pic/Sameer Markande

The BMC crackdown on construction sites violating dust-mitigation guidelines has revealed that one in every five construction sites that received the stop-work notice belongs to Andheri East. Over six hundred construction sites in Mumbai have been issued stop-work notices for violation of dust mitigation norms by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Twenty-one per cent of the 667 construction sites that have been pulled for its failure to control dust are from the K East ward which covers Andheri East and Jogeshwari East. According to the BMC data, K East ward issued stop work notices to the 144 construction sites. H East ward office which covers Bandra and Santacruz east part issued stop work notices to the 98 construction sites.

Work going on at the under-construction Gokhale Bridge at Andheri East. Pic/Anurag Ahire

According to the civic data, there are around 6,000 construction sites which include private construction, metro, coastal road and infrastructure projects. To date, BMC has issued stop-work notices to the 667 construction sites in Mumbai which are not following dust mitigation norms. Till November 20, 2023, BMC issued 343 stop work notices to the construction sites while in the last four days, 324 stop-work notices were issued.

An official from the ward office who is part of a team task force said: "After the dust mitigation guideline was published we started sending intimation notices to the construction sites. This was followed by regular site visits, if we found there was no progress in implementing dust mitigation measures we issued them a show-cause notice. If no action is taken even after the show causes notice, most of the time we issue a stop work notice."

On October 20, 2023, municipal commissioner I S Chahal issued guidelines for dust mitigation. According to the guidelines, BMC gave 15 days to install sprinklers and 30 days to set up the anti-smog machine. Besides, BMC has ordered to install 25-feet tall sheets along the perimeter of the construction site and also cover the entire construction project with jute or green cloth.

As per the guidelines, each ward has a task force as per the ward size. "The officials from the task force regularly monitor construction sites. Besides, senior officials in head office are also monitoring the progress of the notices issued by the ward offices, said a BMC official.

We had asked the authority concerned to ensure that vehicles transporting construction material and debris should follow the dust mitigation norms. We have floated tenders to hire water tankers for cleaning the roads," the official said.

144
No of construction sites in Andheri East that got stop-work notices