SOPS FOR NAVI BUILDERS TO PREVENT AIR POLLUTION

Sameera Kapoor Munshi

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will provide Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to Navi Mumbai builders’ fraternity to prevent air pollution while undertaking any form of construction work in the city.

To address the issue of air pollution caused by the development and construction work, the civic administration conducted a workshop with city builders and developers on Thursday. The workshop was aimed primarily at creating awareness about the environmental issues Navi Mumbai is facing due to repeated breaching of the particulate matter (PM) parameters as well as jointly working out the SOPs to prevent air pollution in the city.

“There is an initiative by the Government towards clean air wherein the aim is to get the particulate matter level reduced by at least 20% across the country. Major air pollutants include airborne particulate matter, the source for this in Navi Mumbai is primarily the development and construction work,” said Shirish Aradhwad, additional city engineer, NMMC.

As per the Environmental Status Report of NMMC 2020-21, PM10 concentration in Nerul and Rabale nodes was found to be breaching the standard accepted parameters.

The workshop focussed on the means to achieve sustainable construction Air Quality and construction practices. “Some measures to address air pollution include investing in air quality monitoring sensors while commencing a development project, appropriate ways to undertake demolition work and harms caused due to uncovered stockpiles,” said an official.

Other measures to be included were having fogging machines for settlement of dust, designated stations to get the wheels of the vehicles transporting construction materials washed at the project sites, a fullfledged company policy to mitigate construction dust, a tool kit at project site for clean construction practices.

“We have asked NMMC to share the SOPs identified to avert air pollution. It explained the sustainable practices to be followed while transporting debris, conservation of water on project sites, etc. and the benefits they can yield to both the builders as well as the environment,” said Dharmendra Karia, Trustee, Builder Association, Navi Mumbai.