September 30, 2025: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced that it will resume its road-washing drive from next month to tackle the city’s recurring air and dust pollution. Under the short-term mitigation strategy, 377 major roads spanning a total of 677 kilometres across Mumbai will be cleaned regularly using water tankers over a three-month period. The initiative is estimated to cost around Rs 8 crore.
Mumbai’s air quality typically deteriorates between October and March due to a combination of weather conditions, increased construction activity, road dust, and vehicular emissions. To address this, the BMC has issued directives requiring all construction sites to comply with a 28-point guideline aimed at reducing dust and particulate pollution.
For the road-washing drive, approximately 254 water tanker trips will be carried out daily across the seven administrative zones of the city. Tankers with capacities of 5,000 and 9,000 litres will be deployed, hired on a rental basis at costs ranging from Rs 4,200 to Rs 5,000 per trip for smaller tankers and Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,200 for larger ones.
Recent inspections revealed that 1,646 construction sites were violating the BMC’s dust control guidelines. Of these, 1,156 sites received show-cause notices, while 490 were ordered to halt work. Compliance was achieved at 166 sites, with notices withdrawn, and 191 sites resumed operations after adhering to regulations.
Looking ahead, the BMC’s Environment Department, which currently enforces Solid Waste Management by-laws, is preparing a stricter pollution control regulation with enhanced penalties, set to take effect in November. The new by-law will empower officials to directly penalise violations, particularly at construction sites that fail to implement dust mitigation measures.
The road-washing initiative and tighter regulations form part of the civic body’s concerted effort to improve air quality and public health during the winter months.
Source: The Free Press Journal
