After citizens’ protest, NMMC takes action to improve air quality

Citizen campaign against poor air quality in Navi Mumbai leads to NMMC promising to deploy air purifying vehicles; residents continue to protest for more action.

NAVI MUMBAI: The citizen campaign – Clean Air My Right- undertaken by Vashi and Kopar Khairane residents against the extreme poor air quality in the city has yielded positive results with Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) convening a meeting on Thursday.

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The civic administration has assured citizen groups that four air purifying vehicles will be deployed in Sectors 26 and 28, Kopri village, and Sector 11 of Kopar Khairane.

Since, October 8 residents have been voicing their concerns about the poor air quality index (AQI) of the area. “After staging a sit-down strike for five Sundays, NMMC has finally responded, promising to deploy air purifying vehicles in the affected areas. We have asked the administration to ensure that these vehicles are stationed permanently,” Prof Vinil Kumar Singh, member of citizen group, said. “This is a major development. During the meeting, the delegation also discussed the other factors leading to the pollution,” said Singh.

NMMC has begun taking various measures to address the issue of pollution across Navi Mumbai. In adherence to the directives issued by the high court (HC), the corporation has worked out its action plan to improve the city’s environment. Rajesh Narvekar, municipal commissioner, said to closely monitor construction sites. “Air quality index in the entire MMR is not as per the desired standards, therefore, there are directions from HC to mitigate the issue. Accordingly, ward offices and the anti-debris squad are instructed to take stringent action against any form of violation. There will be regular checks on construction site adherence to prevent pollution,” said the commissioner.

Residents of Vashi and Kopar Khairane have stated they will continue their protest until their demands of declaring the node as a buffer zone between residential and industrial belt are acknowledged. “Our protest will continue as the issue of pollution cannot be addressed by stationing air purifying vehicles alone. The chemical factories in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) belt need to be relocated elsewhere,” said a resident.

The stone-crushing unit of the railway yard is another factor adding to the pollution, added the resident. “NMMC has been informed about the stench emanating from the open nullah at Kopar Khairane, which needs to be covered,” he added.