IN ITS ongoing action against violations of air pollution mitigation measures, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has issued stop work notices to 106 construction sites for failing to install air quality measurement systems within their premises till Thursday. According to officials, the notices have been given to private contractors along with several government projects such as the ongoing railway bridge at Sion, an SRA work site in K/East ward, a MHADA project site in H/East ward, among others.
Earlier, on January 20, the BMC had informed the Bombay High Court that nearly 662 (33 per cent) of BombayOngoing construction sites had not installed sensor-based air quality monitors as of Tuesday.
As the city battled deteriorating air quality, the BMC in 2023 had issued a 28-point guideline letter that included norms for contractors to curb pollution from construction and demolition work at project sites. Apart from this, the civic body had also directed all construction sites to install air monitoring systems and large project sites of more than Rs 1,000 crore had ordered to install ‘Reference Grade Air Quality Monitor’.
Civic body officials said inspections for installation of air quality monitors have been intensified at project sites since 2025. However, at least 103 construction sites were found to be non-compliant with the directives despite regular follow-ups, pushing civic authorities to issue immediate ‘stop work’ notices. In its stop work notices, BMC has directed the contractors of the project to cease all construction activity and submit a compliance report.
Apart from private contractors, stop work notices have been issued to government agencies at all project sites of authorities Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Railway Bridge, MHADA, etc. in the suburbs.
Amid another high court hearing scheduled for January 23, the civic body directed all district-level teams to continue physical inspection of construction sites as well as bakery units that have not met emission standards.
After recording a “satisfactory” AQI below 100 for the last three days, Mumbai’s overall air quality index deteriorated rapidly on Thursday to 133 (moderate). Of the 26 active stations, the worst AQI on Thursday was recorded in Worli with 217, classified as poor, followed by 163 in Sion.