BMC collects ₹45 lakh in fines for air quality violations at construction sites

According to BMC data, 4,209 violations, including unclean premises, lack of tarpaulin cover, burning of waste, and unauthorised debris dumping, were recorded across various wards, with more than 200 construction sites issued stop-work notices

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has collected over ₹45 lakh in penalties from over 4,000 offenders from construction sites across the city in the last two months, for flouting norms aimed at mitigating air pollution. Additionally, stop-work notices have been issued to over 200 construction sites.

BMC collects ₹45 lakh in fines for air quality violations at construction sites

According to BMC data, 4,209 violations, including unclean premises, lack of tarpaulin cover, burning of waste, and unauthorised debris dumping, were recorded across various wards, with more than 200 construction sites issued stop-work notices. Of the 4,209 cases, 1014 cases with penalties worth ₹22,26,442 were reported in November and 3195 cases with penalties worth ₹22,84,094 were reported in October. C-Ward accounted for nearly 2,500 cases in October.

The fines were imposed by flying squads comprising officials from the solid waste department. “The flying squads are continuing inspections across the city,” an official said.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Avinash Dhakne said while penalties were imposed, the civic body is considering revising rules for repeat offenders.

Earlier this month, the civic body issued a show-cause notice to the Bullet Train project at Bandra-Kurla Complex for alleged violations. “We will inspect all public and private projects as they are mandated to comply with AQI norms,” Dhakne said.

Under the BMC’s 28-point guideline for Air Pollution Mitigation on construction sites, builders must prepare an Environmental Management Plan, cover construction sites with green cloth or metal sheets at least 25 feet high, and install water sprinklers, misting systems, radars and sensors to curb dust pollution.