Navi Mumbai: The Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) has issued stop work orders to 34 real estate projects across its jurisdiction for continuing to flout mandatory dust mitigation norms despite earlier warnings.
“Establishments that do not take corrective action within 15 days of notices being issued will be shut down,” said PMC commissioner Mangesh Chitale. “Construction work will be halted if measures to improve air quality are not taken.”
The PMC has also served notices to 151 bakeries, hotels, and restaurants, directing them to transition from coal and wood to cleaner fuels like LPG or electricity or face closure.
The crackdown was precipitated by a sharp spike in Panvel’s Air Quality Index (AQI) during the last week of January, when pollution levels breached the ‘severe’ category in several pockets.
The 34 projects where work has been halted were spread across key nodes, with 15 located in New Panvel and Panvel City, 10 in Kalamboli, and nine in Kamothe. The projects were among 169 which had been served show cause notices earlier for flouting pollution mitigation norms. Stop work notices were issued to them after a surprise re-inspection confirmed that they had failed to implement even basic corrective measures.
Reports from re-inspection of the sites showed a litany of lapses, civic officials said. Developers had not installed 25-foot metal barricades around construction perimeters or draped under-construction buildings in wet green cloth to contain dust. Water sprinklers and anti-smog guns were absent, and transport protocols were ignored, as vehicles carrying ready-mix concrete were found spilling material on roads. Noisy activities like cutting and drilling were also being conducted in open spaces rather than enclosed sections.
Additionally, many sites lacked the mandatory sensor-based air pollution monitors and CCTV cameras for real-time compliance tracking, civic officials said.
This enforcement drive is a critical component of the PMC’s broader ₹140-crore anti-pollution master plan. The administration is installing air purification systems at 10 high-traffic locations, which will utilise a water-based scrubbing process to filter out harmful PM2.5 and PM10 particles. Mobile fog cannon vehicles will also be deployed to suppress dust on major roads while two enclosed waste transfer stations will be developed in New Panvel and Kalamboli at a cost of ₹26 crore to ensure scientific, odour-free garbage transport.