A thick layer of smog covered various parts of Mumbai city on Thursday evening

The Central Pollution Control Board’s SAMEER app reported that the city’s air quality remained in the 'moderate' category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 166 at 7 pm

As the city reels under air pollution on Thursday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), through the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Department, has undertaken certain steps efforts to mitigate the issue and suppress dust as part of an ongoing initiative to improve air quality

As part of this drive, BMC has developed a special Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to tackle Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, control dust levels, and enhance the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Mumbai

According to BMC, 96 vehicles have been deployed to collect dust and transport C&D waste. These include 46 JCBs and dumpers, 16 mechanical sweepers, 13 e-sweepers, and 21 litter picker machines

A traffic police officer covers their face with a handkerchief during heavy smog that blankets the city skyline, caused by poor air quality, near Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai

A total of 197 tonnes of C&D waste and debris were collected and transported to processing facilities

Youngsters play cricket at Azad Maidan as smog looms in the background

"These efforts reflect BMC's commitment to improving air quality, reducing pollution, and maintaining cleaner, healthier urban spaces for Mumbai’s residents," the civic body said in a press release

In the next 48 hours, Mumbai is likely to experience partly cloudy sky

As per the SAMEER app dashboard, many areas across Mumbai showed 'moderate' AQI

The air quality index from 0 to 100 is considered 'good', 100 to 200 'moderate', 200 to 300 'poor', 300 to 400 'very poor' and from 400 to 500 or above 'severe'