‘Newly repaired road damaged by builder, causes air pollution in Khar Pali area’

Advocate Trivan Kumar Karnani, founder, MNCDF, said, “The silence by BMC shows that they are not keen on resolving issues about air pollution on the ground. The builders have also damaged a newly repaired road, which is a huge loss to the corporation and taxpayers’ money

Mumbai: While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is preparing SOPs to tackle air pollution caused by construction activities in the city, a citizen welfare forum has alleged that two private builders damaged a newly repaired road in the Khar Pali area due to spillage of cement and concrete mix on the road.

Mumbai, India - March 17, 2023: The entire newly repaired road is getting damaged and destroyed due to the negligence of heavy trucks carrying construction materials and debris at the sites, creating dust pollution and posing health issues and inconvenience to residents, at Khar, Pali Road, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

The Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF) uploaded the video on Twitter alleging how construction work is also causing heavy air pollution in the area. HT visited the spot and found that cement and the concrete mix was spilled at the Junction of Khar Pali road and Dr Ambedkar Road. The trucks passing from the construction site were also not covered. MNCDF, tagging BMC, requested that action be taken against the contractor under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act.

Advocate Trivan Kumar Karnani, founder, MNCDF, said, “The silence by BMC shows that they are not keen on resolving issues about air pollution on the ground. The builders have also damaged a newly repaired road, which is a huge loss to the corporation and taxpayers’ money. I request BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal to take stringent action against the builder as well as BMC officials who are allowing the public property to be damaged.”

HT contacted the assistant commissioner of H West ward, Vinayak Vispute, who initially said he had no idea of the issue and will get back. When followed up, Vispute did not respond to calls or messages for two days.

Last week, BMC said flying squads will be appointed to keep an eye on construction sites in every ward to reduce air pollution. The flying squad at the wards, headed by assistant commissioners, will be trained at the ward level. The BMC had declared that various construction work is underway at 5,000 sites across Mumbai. The dust generated by large-scale construction, various development works, and changes in wind speed has been found to be the two main factors of air pollution.