Mumbai to brace for rising air and noise pollution levels in coming year

The city and its people will walk into 2019 staring at bigger challenges with regard to issues pertaining to the environment. The city will be dealing with ongoing threats like rapid reduction of green cover, rising air and noise pollution levels, increasing human-animal conflict and worsening conditions of the rivers.

Deteriorating air quality in the city especially due to rising levels of particulate matter has been a major cause of worry. The construction sector has been said to be a major source of PM 2.5 pollution, which is known to affect the respiratory system. While both SAFAR and MPCB monitor the quality of air in the city, not much has been done to study the sources and control or reduce them.

"The city will continue to see a very high number of construction sites all around and it is a big challenge for the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to ensure that the dust management plan is implemented on ground and a proper air pollution mitigation plan is acted out as well," environmentalist Stalin D said.

To make matters of air pollution worse, activists fighting to save trees say that over 8,000 proposals for removal of trees were put up in 2018. While all petitions for felling of trees were not sanctioned, it still shows how easily people decide on losing trees. Trees not only protect from air and noise pollution but also, help in regulating temperatures. The city's tree activists said that the BMC has to be very strict in giving permits to cut trees. The civic body must ensure that transplantation and compensatory plantations are properly carried out.

The year 2018 turned out to be an important year with regard to noise pollution. The Supreme Court ordered a two-hour-long window for bursting crackers. It even banned noisy crackers.

The BMC has notified 110 silence zones but, activists demand that more places should be made silence zones in 2019, to protect people's health. The government also initiated a major drive against honking, which was became a success in 2018.

However, the focus in 2019 will be rivers as organisations are working towards it. They are hopeful that the long due river rejuvenation work on Dahisar, Poisar, Oshivara and Mithi rivers will begin this year as the appointed consultants have already given their reports. The Dahisar river will also become the first river in the city to get an urban check dam and the project is likely to be completed by February.