Only one polluter prosecuted in Mumbai under Air Act since 2015

Hindustan Times: Prayag-Arora Desai: Mumbai: Tuesday, Febraury 28, 2023.

This data came to light via an RTI request by Girgaum resident Jeetendra Ghadge, who has raised several complaints with the MPCB regarding increasing air pollution in South Mumbai, due to rampant construction, including that caused by the BMC’s Coastal Road project and MMRCL’s Mumbai Metro.

Mumbai: Despite worsening air quality in the city in recent years, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in Mumbai has initiated legal action against just one violator -- under the provisions of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 -- since 2015. The MPCB did not share specific details of the violation or ensuing court proceedings, despite requests.

This data came to light via an RTI request by Girgaum resident Jeetendra Ghadge, who has raised several complaints with the MPCB regarding increasing air pollution in South Mumbai, due to rampant construction, including that caused by the BMC’s Coastal Road project and MMRCL’s Mumbai Metro. “In Mumbai, where citizens every day are raising their voice before various authorities over egregious pollution levels, it is shocking that just one polluter has been taken to court in seven years,” Ghadge said.

To be sure, this statistic does not reflect the number of show cause notices and closure directions issued to various polluters in the same time frame, but it indicates how political and administrative will to implement the Air Act in full has completely fizzled out. Experts, including a former member secretary of the MPCB who spoke to Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity, resolutely agreed.