Thane: TMC to impose fine for dust pollution in the city

Pic/TMC

In a bid to control dust pollution, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) in Maharashtra on Thursday issued a set of guidelines and decided to impose cash fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 on those who violate the guidelines.

On Thursday, a review meeting was conducted at the TMC regarding the implementation of the Clean Air Action Plan. In this meeting, TMC additional commissioner Sanjay Herwade gave instructions about compliance with the rules.

The civic body has identified two major causes of dust pollution in the city, which are dust scattered by vehicular traffic and dust pollution caused at construction sites.

During the meeting, Herwade said that without taking measures to control dust pollution while doing various works of infrastructure facilities, a fine of Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 will be imposed.

The meeting was attended by Thane developers, ready mix plant concrete operators, road work contractors, representatives of Metro Railway projects among others.

In the meeting, TMC's chief environment officer Manisha Pradhan spoke about the need to curb air pollution in Thane.

Also Read: Mumbai Police issues prohibitory order for city ahead of Amit Shah's visit

"A vigilance team of the Pollution Control department will be formed to monitor the pollution control measures," said Deputy Commissioner Anagha Kadam.

Here are the regulations issued by TMC to control dust pollution:

For building construction sites:

- Barricading near building construction sites

- Protection net for plaster works of buildings

- Use of plastic garbage drums to dump debris, no dumping debris in the open

- Use of water sprinklers to settle dust released from sand, mud and cement

- Use of rain run to avoid dust release on roads near the construction sites

- Cover the trucks transporting construction materials

For RMC Plants:

- Water sprinklers should be used to avoid dust pollution

- Barricading at the plant

- Concrete roads at RMC plant

- Cover the vehicles transporting the materials to the plant

- There should be tyre washing facilities at entry and exit points for transit mix vehicles

For Road Contractors/Metro Works:

- Use water sprinklers and rain gun while digging roads or doing road repair work

- Barricading along the road where work is going on

- Trucks should be covered with tarpaulin while transporting construction materials