BMC headquarters
Mumbai: In view of the low water stocks in the dams supplying water to the city and the 10% water cut currently in force, BMC’s standing committee rejected the civic body’s proposal to spend around Rs 8.3 crore on washing 677 km of Mumbai’s roads to curb air pollution. Congress member Ashraf Azmi said, “The AQI today is 151, and BMC does not have any programme to curtail air pollution. There are 4,000 wells in the city.
BJP Group leader Ganesh Khankar demanded that the proposal be recorded due to the water situation in the city.
BMC had earlier said that it would revive wells to supply non-potable water in the city. Committee members, including those from the ruling front, opposed the proposal, citing the city’s water situation. However, nothing has been done so far. From where will you get the water required for washing roads, then?”
MNS member Yashwant Killedar said, “While the current situation may not be right for using water to wash roads, there is also the issue of road dust contributing to rising pollution. Regular cleaning of public roads with high-pressure water is an important measure to control dust pollution and would also help improve the overall cleanliness of the city, according to the civic body. Azmi also demanded that BMC implement a separate ‘Hydrant Policy’ to control rising air pollution and dust in Mumbai and strengthen water supply arrangements for the fire brigade and gardens. Using non-potable water is one of the solutions to control dust, but where will BMC get so much non-potable water when it has only one centre for treating sewage water? Why are you not working on creating infrastructure for processing sewage water? BMC should have looked at other solutions to control dust pollution without wasting water. Civic officials pointed out that they intended to use non-potable water for washing roads.