Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau
Amid worsening air quality in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to impose GRAP 4 norms in the city.
This means that all construction works—private and public—will be suspended with immediate effect in areas where the Air Quality Index (AQI) is above 200.
According to Mumbai’s municipal commissioner and state-appointed administrator Bhushan Gagrani, these areas include Borivali East and Byculla for now.
“In areas where the AQI index surpasses the 200-mark, we will be stopping work at all construction sites under the GRAP 4 norms. Once the AQI breaches 200, the rule will be implemented immediately without issuing any stop-work notices to the developers. For now, we have immediately implemented the rule and suspended construction work in Borivali East and Byculla which have consistently seen poor AQI,” Gagrani said while announcing the measures.
The BMC also clarified that no new permissions for trenching will be given in the city until the air quality improves.
If the constitution work still goes on despite the ‘stop work’ notices, the concerned developers will face penal action under Section 52 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act.
What are GRAP 4 restrictions?
GRAP 4 restrictions under the winter air pollution control plan, include a complete ban on construction activities, as the air quality worsened to the ‘severe’ category due to adverse weather conditions. Due to deteriorating air quality, the Stage 4 curbs were implemented earlier this month in Delhi.
According to the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI of 0-50 is considered in the ‘good’ category while 51-100 falls in the satisfactory category.
If the AQI breaches the 100 mark, it is classified as ‘moderate’ while above 200 till the 300 mark goes under the ‘poor’ category.
An AQI above 300 is in the ‘very poor’ category while anything above 400 is deemed to be severe.
