Anti-Smog Guns, Sprinklers To Fight Air Pollution In Mumbai

An anti-smog gun was seen in action as the air quality in Mumbai on Monday morning was recorded in the 'moderate' category with an air quality index of 127, according to the system of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research, Safar-India.

There are instructions to add 30 more anti-smog guns to fight the air pollution.

The city has witnessed a rise in the heat with an average daily maximum temperature ranging from 32 to 34 degrees for a week resulting in air quality slipping to the moderate category.

Construction is going on at a whopping 6,000 sites in the city currently, an official release quoted municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal as saying on Friday.

Various measures like compulsory use of 35-feet high iron sheet enclosures around construction sites and covering under-construction buildings with green cloth or jute sheets on all sides are among the measures suggested by the civic body to fight air pollution.

However, NDTV found that at present the height of iron sheets on construction sites is 6.5 to 7 feet, there are instructions to increase it to 25-35 feet.

Sprinkler systems will be provided at all construction sites within 15 days and anti-smog guns should be provided within 30 days, the civic body said.

Earlier, Shiv Sena leader, Uddhav Thackeray, slammed the Eknath Shinde Government for the increasing pollution in the state of Maharashtra. He blamed Mr Shinde for directing BMC to install air purifiers in Mumbai, by cutting down trees.

"AQI is increasing in Mumbai and air quality is deteriorating. This issue happened last year also. When our government was there, Mumbai Climate Action Plan was released which is still present in the BMC app," Mr Thackeray said.

CCTVs will be installed at all construction sites and construction should be stopped at places where anti-pollution measure are not being implemented.

Vehicles transporting construction debris shall be covered properly with tarpaulin sheets and not carry more than the prescribed load, the guidelines added.

"It seems that the entire Mumbai is under construction. People living in the construction areas are not able to open the windows of their houses. Mumbai is dug up everywhere," said environmentalist Zoru Bhathena.

The Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms that are easy to understand. There are six AQI categories, namely Good + Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts

According to the AQI scale, the air quality check between 0 and 50 are considered "good", 51 and 100 are "satisfactory", 101 and 200 are "moderate", 201 and 300 are "poor", 301 and 400 are "very poor", and 401 and 450 are "severe" and "severe+" when AQI exceeds 450.