HC panel calls for AQI station, real time data at Kanjurmarg dump

The committee was constituted via a Government Resolution dated January 2, 2026, following directions from the high court in a 2019 public interest litigation

Mumbai: A Bombay High Court-mandated committee has recommended the installation of a continuous Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring station equipped with a public display system at the Kanjurmarg municipal solid waste processing facility to alleviate long-standing concerns of residents and ensure the public has access to real-time AQI data. It has also recommended strengthening the green belt around the city’s largest dumping ground and enforcing stricter sanitary landfill operations at the site.

HC panel calls for AQI station, real time data at Kanjurmarg dump

The committee was constituted via a Government Resolution dated January 2, 2026, following directions from the high court in a 2019 public interest litigation. The recommendations were formulated based on a comparative study of the Kanjurmarg dumping ground and the waste processing facility at Shivri in Lucknow, which was inaugurated last year. The committee visited both the waste processing plants on February 5-6, reviewed operational data, and submitted the findings to the high court via the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The committee’s report noted that the core challenge at Kanjurmarg lay not in technological inadequacy but in pressures arising from its scale of operations and proximity to residential areas.

The Lucknow plant processes approximately 2,100 tonnes per day (TPD) waste while Kanjurmarg handles nearly 6,000 TPD, accounting for about 86% of Mumbai’s total waste, the report said. The technological gap between the two facilities was minimal as the windrow composting and basic material recovery facility (MRF) systems installed at Lucknow have already been operational at Kanjurmarg since 2012.

Odour continued to be the primary grievance of those residing around the Kanjurmarg site, particularly during cooler evening hours, the report said, and enlisted a number of immediate, medium-term and long-term recommendations.

Immediate recommendations included intensified deodorant dosing, wider misting coverage across composting pads and landfill areas, and stronger grievance redressal systems supported by analytics and mobile odour monitoring.

In the medium term, the committee recommended feasibility, health and safety risk studies for installing bio-filters at the material recovery facility in Kanjurmarg, alongside exploring odour scrubbers.

Looking ahead, the committee recommended a strategic transition of the dumping ground into an integrated waste-processing ecosystem. The system would include waste-to-energy solutions for high-calorific dry waste, bio-methanation or compressed biogas for wet waste, controlled composting processes and use of scientifically managed landfills only for inert rejects. The existing material recovery facility must be shifted closer to the designated landfill cells to improve site layout and create a dense urban green buffer that will mitigate odour, the report said.

The court is likely to examine the report’s findings and recommendations before issuing further directions about the city’s largest waste processing site.