To curb the rising air pollution, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation closed down 19 construction sites and issued penalty notices to 173 developers for violating dust control norms. Flying squads have been deployed to enforce the 27-point air pollution control guidelines across the city
The civic body has enforced ‘GRAP-4 measures’, under which construction work has been halted at 19 locations. Representational image/file
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has asked 19 construction sites to stop work and issued penalty notices to 173 developers for allegedly violating pollution control norms, officials have said.
According to a release by the civic body on Wednesday, NMMC has enforced ‘GRAP-4 measures’, under which construction work has been halted at 19 locations, where the air quality index has exceeded 200.
A statement from Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation said, “For enforcement, flying squads comprising civil engineers, sanitation officers and town planning officials have been constituted. Besides the stop-work orders, 10 show-cause notices and penalty notices have been issued to 173 developers.”
Air pollution crisis: NMMC enforces SOP
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation noted that air pollution typically increases during winter due to low wind speeds, high humidity, and reduced vertical mixing of air, which leads to the accumulation of pollutants near the ground. To counter this seasonal rise, the civic body has enforced a standard operating procedure (SOP) for construction sites, making pollution prevention measures mandatory.
As per the SOP, installing air quality monitoring devices at construction sites has been made compulsory. So far, such devices have been installed at 30 sites, while installation at remaining sites is currently underway. Flying squads comprising civil sub-engineers, sanitation officers or inspectors, and town planning sub-engineers are conducting regular inspections across all divisions.
The Navi Mumbai civic body has also urged citizens to rely only on official sources for air quality information. Addressing reports about a sharp rise in AQI levels in Sanpada, the civic corporation further clarified that several reports are based on data from low-cost sensors operated by third-party organisations or crowd-sourced platforms, which do not follow the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) calibration and standardisation norms.
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation also emphasised that AQI readings from official Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), CPCB) website, and the SAMEER app are accurate and reliable. In many cases, AQI readings from unofficial sensors were found to be significantly higher than those recorded by official monitoring stations.
It has further urged residents to refer only to CPCB data and the SAMEER app for authentic air quality updates and to cooperate with the civic administration in maintaining clean and healthy air in Navi Mumbai.
(With PTI inputs)
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