Mumbai: Newly appointed additional municipal commissioner Avinash Dhakne on Monday signalled a tougher crackdown on construction-linked pollution, saying the BMC may consider a steep hike in penalties for sites that flout norms even after being served notice.At present, construction sites are fined just Rs 10,000 for violations — an amount Dhakne indicated is far too low to act as a deterrent. Dhakne also said if the city’s AQI crosses 300 for consecutive three days, then all polluting units within a 2km radius such as construction and redevelopment (demolition) sites, RMC plants and bakeries will be stopped until the AQI improves. “Govt works cannot be exempt. The same strict rules must apply across the board,” he said, adding that while Mumbai currently has 28 air quality monitoring stations, the BMC is open to adding more if data gaps appear.We should also be able to start getting localised AQI data from the air quality sensors that construction sites have been asked to put up. So far, around 500 construction sites have installed the specified air quality sensors linked to the BMC’s central dashboard. This network will help pinpoint hyperlocal pollution hotspots and guide targeted interventions,” he said, adding that a meeting with the transport and traffic department was also in the pipeline in the coming days to crackdown specifically on vehicles carrying uncovered debris, construction materials or causing spillage on the road.Dhakne, who earlier served as member secretary of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), said Mumbai’s priority must be to increase the number of days the city’s air quality remains in the ‘satisfactory’ category. “In a dense coastal city like Mumbai, pushing AQI below 50 is extremely challenging, but improving the overall number of satisfactory days is achievable,” he said. Data shows in 2025, Mumbai saw 55 good AQI days, 161 satisfactory, 112 moderate and one poor AQI day. Enforcement has already intensified: In Dec alone, the civic body issued 191 show-cause notices and 78 stop-work notices to errant construction sites.Meanwhile, on Monday at a meeting with the garden department, the BMC proposed setting up bamboo nurseries in the city. As bamboo is classified as grass, it can be cut without permission, allowing quick deployment for green buffers wherever needed.
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