The civic body also served a show-cause notice to the Metro Line 2B construction site in BKC, seeking an explanation for non-compliance with prescribed dust and pollution control guidelines.
The action follows strong observations made by the Bombay High Court earlier this week while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation on Mumbai’s poor air quality and widespread violations at construction sites.
On December 23, the court pulled up the BMC and the Maharashtra government, remarking that civic authorities appeared to have acted only after judicial intervention. Amicus curiae Darius Khambata informed the bench that several major public infrastructure projects and road concretisation works were found flouting pollution control norms, despite earlier court directions.
The court was also told that although Mumbai has over 1,900 construction sites, only about 600 have complied with the requirement to install Air Quality Index (AQI) monitors. It questioned the effectiveness of inspections and enforcement by civic authorities, noting visible pollution across the city.
Stressing that it did not want development work to halt but demanded strict compliance, the bench directed the Maharashtra government to frame guidelines to protect construction workers’ health and asked the BMC to submit a detailed report on measures to curb air pollution.
Also read: Delhi air quality improves as overall AQI falls into 'poor' category
