Legislators raise concerns over pollution; Maharashtra Minister warns against misleading AQI reports

Environment Minister Pankaja Munde arrives at the Maharashtra Legislature for Day 3 of the Budget Session. PIC/X

Maharashtra Environment Minister Pankaja Munde cautioned citizens against believing misleading information being circulated about air quality (AQI) levels, alleging that such claims were aimed at creating obstacles in development projects. She urged the public to rely only on official AQI data released through authenticated government platforms.

Addressing the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Wednesday, Munde stated that Mumbai is a developing city and has several ongoing infra, private, and government construction projects. The minister further claimed that, compared to last year, the air pollution situation is better this year.

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"Recently, someone told me that AQI levels are 600 in Mumbai. I am asking people to follow sites or apps putting out authentic information and not get carried away by misleading data," Munde stated, adding that a few are trying to give wrong numbers to create a hurdle in development.

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Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) legislator Anil Parab cited that the AQI at Kherwadi is 320, and it has been around that level for a long time. Echoing similar views, Congress' Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Bhai Jagtap claimed that people are flouting norms and do not fear rules. He maintained that while development is necessary and no one would like to apply brakes on it, while doing one needs to take care of the environment too.

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Munde assured the members that action has always been taken and will continue to be taken against erring people. She informed that all the development sites have been asked to install the AQI monitoring system to display the board with its feed to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Chief Minister sets 100 percent monitoring target

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis admitted that unless 100 percent monitoring is done, the desired results to tackle pollution will not be achieved.

"All development, whether private or government, needs to follow norms and install the system to measure the pollution level. Also, the AI (artificial intelligence) technology needs to be used to tackle this issue. Soon we will have 100 percent monitoring in place," Fadnavis added.