Smog Covers Mumbai As Civic Body Struggles To Fight Air Pollution

A layer of smog engulfed Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Saturday morning, with hazy conditions visible across the area.

Visuals from the Bandra Kurla Complex showed reduced visibility amid hazy conditions.

As of October 22 this year, Mumbai recorded 231 days in the 'Good' and 'Satisfactory' Air Quality Index (AQI) categories, compared with 218 days in 2025, 216 days in 2024 and 185 days in 2023, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

According to the civic body, data from the PRANA portal of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change showed that Mumbai's PM10 concentration declined by approximately 48 per cent between 2017-18 and 2025-26.

The BMC said it has undertaken several measures to mitigate air pollution, including inspections at construction sites, road cleaning, monitoring of construction and demolition waste, and enforcement against activities contributing to pollution.

The civic body has issued 28-point air-pollution mitigation guidelines for construction sites. It has deployed 76 ward-level mitigation squads to conduct random and surprise inspections, with each squad required to inspect at least two construction sites daily and follow up on compliance at identified pollution hotspots.

Non-compliance with the guidelines can invite enforcement action, including show-cause notices, stop-work notices, and sealing of sites, supported by inspection reports, photographs, and videographs, the release stated.

The BMC also said sensor-based air-quality monitors are mandatory at construction sites. A total of 3,166 construction sites have installed these monitors and integrated them with a central dashboard through which the civic body tracks readings.

To control road dust, the BMC undertakes deep cleaning and routine sweeping, deploying 29 multipurpose vehicles. Developers and contractors are also required to clean adjoining roads based on the size of their construction sites.

The civic body is enforcing rules requiring construction and demolition waste vehicles to remain covered and have their wheels washed before entering public roads. Waste transportation and authorised disposal are tracked through the Mumbai Debris Control and Tracking System (MDCTS), which covers project proponents, developers and other planning authorities.

On emissions from bakeries, the BMC said they contribute approximately 3.5 per cent of Mumbai's particulate matter emissions. Of the city's 593 bakeries, 209 were already using cleaner fuels, while another 175 have converted. Sixty-nine are undergoing conversion, 87 remain non-compliant, and eight have closed, the release stated.

The BMC is also installing air-pollution control devices at 10 crematoria and maintaining surveillance at identified open-burning hotspots.

For the winter season, the civic body has issued its Winter Air Pollution Mitigation and Enforcement Action Plan 2026, covering construction-site compliance, road dust, open burning, pollution hotspots and vehicle checks.

The BMC said public awareness campaigns are also being conducted on the air and noise pollution caused by firecrackers, which are prohibited on public streets, roads and other public places, including footpaths and silence zones.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)