Mumbai’s air quality has shown worrying trends this month, leading to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) adopting a plan to reduce pollution levels across the city. Civic officials said the strategy will concentrate on municipal wards that regularly report unhealthy Air Quality Index (AQI) readings.
As part of the larger plan, the BMC is procuring 28 automatic road sweeping machines. These machines will be used to remove dust from major roads across Mumbai. They will be more effective in cleaning dust along kerbs, even in areas where vehicles are parked on both sides.
The sweeping will follow a fixed schedule. In the morning, machines will operate from the northern parts of the city towards the south. In the evening, they will move from the south towards the north.
In addition, the BMC has issued tenders to purchase mist spraying vans for nine municipal wards in the eastern and western suburbs. These wards include Malad, Andheri, Borivali, Ghatkopar, Jogeshwari, Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, and Mulund. Each ward will receive one dedicated mist spraying vehicle for regular water sprinkling. Until now, only a few wards in south Mumbai had access to such misting vehicles. These were shared across the city for daily operations.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board shows that Mumbai recorded 21 days of poor AQI between January 1 and January 27. Only six days during this period were classified as satisfactory. The city’s average AQI was from 120 and 150, which falls under the moderate category and can affect vulnerable groups such as children and senior citizens.
To address this, the BMC is closely monitoring AQI levels not just at the city level but also through 28 localised monitoring stations spread across Mumbai. If a particular location shows a sharp decline in AQI, immediate action is taken. This includes spraying water on roads and deploying mist cannons to reduce suspended dust particles in the air.
Ward-level staff are also sent to inspect the area and identify the source of pollution. Such inspections recently took place in Andheri East after monitoring stations there consistently showed poor readings. Officials found instances of open garbage burning and took steps to stop it. Where construction activity or dust buildup was detected, water sprinkling was carried out immediately.