December 22, 2025: To tackle worsening air quality and identify pollution hotspots across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has partnered with the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to develop a high-resolution emissions inventory covering Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.
The initiative, titled the MMR Gridded Emissions Inventory Project, will span three years and systematically assess emissions from key pollution-generating sectors. These include industries, vehicular traffic, road dust, construction activities, residential fuel use, waste burning, aircraft operations, hotels and other commercial sources. The goal is to create a detailed, area-wise understanding of how and where pollutants are generated.
Once compiled, the data will feed into the proposed Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) and Decision Support System (DSS), which are being developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. These systems are expected to help authorities anticipate pollution spikes and plan timely interventions.
According to civic officials, the project will go beyond simply measuring emissions. “Our goal is to identify major sources of pollution so that the right course of corrective measures can be taken,” a senior official from the BMC told The Indian Express. The inventory will analyse the physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants to pinpoint dominant contributors in specific localities.
Data collection will involve extensive surveys and mapping exercises, including vehicle counts, residential fuel usage patterns and construction site assessments. Emissions will be analysed on hourly and monthly scales, with chemical profiling covering particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To capture seasonal variations, the emissions inventory will be updated every six months.
While Mumbai already has baseline data under the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP), the project aims to refine and update this information. In neighbouring cities such as Thane and Raigad, fresh emissions data will be collected to support targeted mitigation strategies.
The initiative comes amid persistent deterioration in air quality across Mumbai and the wider MMR over the past three years. Earlier this month, the BMC also launched the Mumbai Air Network for Advanced Sensors (MANAS), an AI-powered platform designed to independently monitor the city’s Air Quality Index and strengthen pollution control efforts.
