October 30, 2025: In response to criticism over its delayed action on enforcing air quality guidelines at construction sites, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced that ward-level squads are actively monitoring ongoing projects to ensure compliance with its 28-point environmental framework.
Civic officials stated that the BMC has intensified its inspection drive and begun issuing penalties to erring sites. “As many as 314 notices, including 275 show-cause notices and 39 stop-work notices, have been issued to construction sites across the city in September alone. This is a continuous process, and the squads at the ward level keep visiting the construction sites to check adherence to the guidelines. The BMC is also issuing notices to the construction sites that have not set up AQI monitors,” said a civic official.
Former corporator Ravi Raja criticised the civic body’s timing, noting that “Mumbai has been breathing poison for the last two winters” and that the AQI was “severe” for days, yet the BMC waited until October 28 to threaten action against more than 600 construction sites that ignored its June directive to install sensor-based air quality monitors. He pointed out that less than half of the city’s construction sites have complied with the directive and urged the BMC to “impose immediate fines and stop-work orders.”
Clarifying the delay, a senior civic official said, “While AQI monitors will help in checking the air quality at a site, right now it is important to ensure that the construction sites do not violate the guidelines. Besides, the process of installing sensor-based AQI monitors at all sites… will take some time.”
Source: The Times of India
