Maharashtra Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar on Monday, 26 October wrote to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, proposing that all construction and demolition activities within BMC limits be suspended one day every week to tackle rising air pollution in Mumbai. The letter also calls for immediate steps ahead of winter, when air quality typically worsens across the city.

What Minister Shelar Has Proposed

At the heart of the proposal is a weekly construction halt — a measure that would apply across all BMC-regulated sites. Beyond that, Shelar has called for a Mumbai-specific Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), modelled on the framework used in Delhi, so that pre-agreed pollution-control measures are triggered automatically whenever air quality crosses defined thresholds.

He has also urged the BMC to wash roads in pollution-prone areas and along major traffic corridors using treated wastewater, deploy anti-smog guns and mist sprayers at heavily polluted intersections, undertake mechanised night-time road cleaning, and carry out urgent pothole repairs and timely road restoration after excavation works.

Enforcement and Monitoring Steps Sought

Shelar has called for stricter enforcement against polluting vehicles, recommending coordinated action by the Mumbai Traffic Police and the Regional Transport Office (RTO), increased checks of Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates, and restrictions on heavy vehicles without valid PUC certificates entering BMC limits.

He has also urged the urgent completion of pending sensor-based air-quality monitoring systems at construction sites and proposed a dedicated helpline and social media account to report waste burning, dumping-ground fires, and illegal disposal of construction debris. Offenders should be penalised and weekly action-taken reports made public, he said.

Industrial and Fuel Transition Measures

Citing a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, Shelar noted that industries in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) consume approximately two million tonnes of coal annually for energy and fuel. He called for low-interest loans, government tax concessions, and a Green Energy Fund to help industries transition to cleaner fuels. He also urged the conversion of the remaining 87 bakeries still using wood or coal to cleaner alternatives.

Incentive schemes to accelerate the electrification of public and private transport, with active participation from the automotive sector, were also recommended.

Positive Progress and Remaining Gaps

Shelar acknowledged progress already made by the BMC, including ward-level inspection teams, monitoring of 3,166 construction sites through the Central Air Quality Dashboard, a construction debris management system, and the use of clean fuels in bakeries and crematoriums. He noted that PM10 pollution levels in Mumbai had declined by approximately 48 per cent since 2017-18. However, he stressed that more comprehensive measures were needed, particularly as the Bombay High Court had also expressed concern over deteriorating air quality following citizen representations.

Region-Wide and Community-Level Action

Emphasising that pollution does not respect administrative boundaries, Shelar stressed that all proposed measures should extend beyond Mumbai and be coordinated with local bodies across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. He proposed ward-level meetings across all 26 BMC wards involving citizen groups, elected representatives, and concerned government departments to identify local problems and devise targeted solutions. Separate discussions with leading industrial-sector companies are also proposed to secure technical and financial support for pollution-control initiatives.

With winter approaching and air quality expected to deteriorate further, the BMC's response to these proposals will be closely watched by environmental groups, the judiciary, and Mumbai's residents.