The Bombay High Court on October 31 took suo motu cognisance of the concerns arising from the degrading air quality and rising air pollution in Mumbai and its suburbs and sought responses from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the steps taken by them to tackle the issue.
Four days later, however, air pollution still continues to remain the topmost health hazard in Mumbai.
The current PM2.5 concentration in Mumbai is 5.7 times above the recommended limit given by the WHO 24 hrs air quality guidelines value, says the Mumbai Air Quality Index report. As per Greenpeace, an internationally recognised non governmental organisation, PM2.5 air pollution in Mumbai is causing an estimated deaths of 14,000 lives since January 1, 2021. It has cost the city's economy around $2.1 billion so far this year.
Sarita Singh, a domestic worker has been struggling with her nasal and chest congestion for days now. A resident of Andheri, she has tried cough syrups and nasal sprays but to no avail. "This problem is persistent. Each time I take medicine, I feel better but then when I go out to work from home to home, the nasal congestion returns. Doctor said I might be allergic to dust and that I need to keep away from it. But that is impossible given the kind of metro construction activity going around in Andheri," says Singh.
As per a survey conducted by LocalCircles, a social media platform, “78% of Mumbai families surveyed indicated that one or more members have sore throat and/or cough, 44% of families experienced burning eyes, 85% of Mumbai residents surveyed rated construction dust as the top cause of air pollution while 62% believed it is also due to motor vehicle emissions.”
On November 3, the day of the India-Sri Lanka World Cup match in Mumbai's Wankhede stadium, pollution levels rose to 14 times over the safe limit. As a result, firecrackers were banned given the bad air quality. According to the city's Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, construction is on, in around 6,000 sites in the city and this has led considerable dust to add to the already polluted air. Development and construction of mega infrastructure projects such as the trans harbour link, coastal road, Mumbai metro rail and more, have severely damaged the lungs of the city, leading to high levels of smog and dust in the air. This led the BMC to contemplate using anti-smog guns and sprinklers at construction sites to reduce dust pollution, however, those measures did not prove to be sufficient.
As a result, in a bid to crackdown on industrial sources of air pollution in Mumbai, on November 3 the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board issued 'closure notices' to city based units of CEAT tyres and a plant of JSW Cement for flouting air pollution norms. The authorities found that the workshops of these companies were not adhering to pollution control norms and reportedly "thick black smoke was seen coming out from the scrubbers."
Dr Harish Chafle, pulmonology and critical care, Global hospital in Mumbai says that the rise in air pollution is usually more evident in winter. "We have entered November which means this is the onset of winter. And in colder months, air pollution levels are bound to go high. And of those patients who already have lung disease, asthma and COPD, will suffer more as their lungs are already weak while those who have healthy lungs, the severe impact caused by constant construction activity all around, can severely damage the lungs. So, it is better to stay indoors as much as possible."
As way of understanding why pollution levels are at the peak during winters, one needs to know that the two common culprits of low-quality air are pollutants such as hydrocarbons, released from industrial use and dust, stirred up by vehicular movement, both of which combine to form smog - smoke plus fog. Now, when the temperature drops, cold air, being denser than warm air, blankets the ground with pollutants trapped inside it. This is why air pollution in winter remains in place for much longer and therefore is breathed in at a higher rate than during the summer.
As part of fire-fighting measures, BMC is now gearing up to desperately reduce the pollution levels as soon as possible. Some of the measures it is taking include BEST buses to get air purifiers, traffic hotspots to get filtration chimneys and placing air purification systems in select gardens, among others. According to Badri Chatterjee of Asar, a research and communications think-tank, during the second wave, studies found a strong link between district-level air pollution statistics and Covid-19 cases, with locations using more fossil fuels falling prey to more cases. "While we assume that infections and dubious lifestyle choices were at the root of respiratory illnesses, toxic particulate matter found in today’s air pose greater harm than a cigarette," he says.
Reportedly, about a year back, the World Resources Institute India found that Deonar, Govandi, Mankhurd, and Trombay areas in Mumbai's M (East) ward consistently recorded the highest pollution levels, followed by Mahul, Chembur in M (West) ward, and F (North), including Antop Hill, Sion, and Ghatkopar. In Mumbai, it has been found that traffic emissions, construction operations, paved and unpaved road dust, landfills, open rubbish burning, and industrial emissions are among the major sources of pollution.
"Reduced levels of pollutants in the atmosphere would improve the health of most city residents, but the impact would be greatest among low-income people, informal communities (residents and workers), migrant labourers, and outdoor workers, who are most exposed to the harmful effects of ambient air pollution," says Chatterjee.
