October 31, 2025

Mumbai's air pollution problem got a fresh spotlight this season, and the city’s Municipal Corporation is now firing back at critics. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) says it is fully on the case, activating ward-level squads to keep a hawk’s eye on construction sites. These squads are making sure sites obey the tough 28-point guidelines set to protect air quality. In one spicy month—September alone—the BMC issued a whopping 314 notices! This includes 275 show cause notices demanding answers from violators and 39 no-nonsense stop work orders to sites ignoring the rules. “This is a continuous process,” a civic official confirmed, “Squads at the ward level keep visiting the construction sites to check adherence to the guidelines. The BMC is also issuing notices to the construction sites that have not set up AQI monitors.” But the fire didn’t stop there. Former corporator Ravi Raja blasted BMC on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). He slammed Mumbai for “breathing poison for the last two winters,” pointing out that Air Quality Index (AQI) readings stayed in the “severe” zone for days. Yet, shockingly, BMC only threatened action on October 28, going after over 600 construction sites that ignored their June orders to install sensor-based air monitors. Raja’s point was clear: less than half of these sites actually follow the AQI rules. “Public health cannot be held hostage to builder interests,” he declared. He wants the BMC to stop giving soft warnings and instead hit violators with immediate fines and stop-work orders. A senior civic official explained, “While AQI monitors will help in checking the air quality at a site, right now it is important to ensure that the construction sites do not violate the guidelines. Besides, the process of installing sensor-based AQI monitors at all sites, according to specifications issued by BMC and integrating it with the civic air quality monitoring system, will take some time.” The official also shared that the BMC created special specifications for these monitors to make sure they are high-quality and reliable. So, the battle to clean Mumbai’s air in construction hotspots is heating up. Will the strict notices and ward squads bring fresh air soon? Only time will tell, but one thing is sure—the BMC is no longer sitting quietly!

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Tags: Bmc, Aqi monitors, Construction sites, Air pollution, Mumbai, Stop work notices,