Pollutants in Mahul air 50 times above safe limit, say locals

Residents of resettlement tenements in Mahul-Trombay claimed there is no respite from air pollution in the region despite several court orders directing industries

Residents of resettlement tenements in Mahul-Trombay claimed there is no respite from air pollution in the region despite several court orders directing industries in the vicinity to reduce emissions.

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Voicing their concerns at an event in Bandra on Thursday, Mahul residents said the concentration of benzene, a volatile organic compound (VOC), emitted by industries at Mahul was 50 times the safe limit. VOCs are pollutants that cause severe health problems.

Anita Dhole, one of the residents, said the readings from the area revealed that the daily average concentration of benzene was as high as 256 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3). The safe limit for 24 hours is 5µg/m3. Dhole was speaking at a panel discussion and art exhibition – Breathless: An Artistic Call To India’s Air Pollution Crisis – at the Bombay Art Society, organised by citizens’ group, Clean Air Collective. “We are asking for our right to live and breathe clean air. Almost every family has at least one member suffering from an ailment and incurs a monthly cost of ₹7,000 on treatments, especially pertaining to skin problems. We continue to live in hell,” said Dhole.

Mahul houses around 5,500 families, who were resettled after the civic body demolished slums along the Tansa pipeline. The families have been demanding homes in other areas, after reports of high industrial pollution owing to two oil refineries, power and fertiliser plants, and several industrial units in the area came to light.

The data is, however, in stark contrast to the readings published by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). “We receive data from each unit every day and overall, the emissions are well within the safe limits,” an MPCB official said.