The Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) plants in the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar region have not yet connected their data to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) server, despite the November 2024 circular. As a result, the MPCB is unable to determine which pollutants and to what extent they are contributing to air pollution in this region, as well as the necessary measures to address the issue.
The MPCB has granted the RMC plant owners a couple of months to make the required changes and link their data to the MPCB. Additionally, the MPCB has issued closure notices to several RMC units for failing to install the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS), which is a mandatory compliance measure for monitoring air quality. Activists are questioning the MPCB’s leniency and the lack of urgency in addressing the issue.
While RMC plants are being given leniency, Vasai Virar is already facing challenges such as continuous smoke from the dumping ground, various construction activities, and white topping on NH48.
According to the MPCB circular dated 27 November 2024, for RMC plants in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the pollution control measures section clearly states: “Installation of CAAQMS for parameters PM10 & PM2.5 shall be connected to the server of MPCB.” Despite this, most of the 45 RMC units in Mira Bhayandar and Vasai Virar have not complied with this mandatory requirement.
Kiran Hasabnis, regional officer, MPCB, Thane, stated that the RMC associations have been informed about the stringent norms through meetings conducted by the MPCB in the MMR region. He also mentioned that they have been instructed to link the air monitoring data with the MPCB and were given a couple of months to streamline the technology at their end. Hasabnis confirmed that both the MPCB and the RMC plants must synchronize the technology for smooth data sharing. He emphasised that along with sharing live data with the MPCB, the plants must also comply with all the norms outlined in the November 2024 circular.
Activist Deepak Rao said that the MPCB should have issued closure notices to these RMC plants in December, as they are major contributors to the deteriorating air quality in Vasai Taluka. He pointed out that the MPCB does not show the same leniency to small vendors, who are raided immediately. Rao said that the PM10 and PM2.5 parameters are critical and need to be monitored continuously.
In the past six months, around 17 RMC units have been issued closure notices for violating MPCB norms, such as failing to barricade the plants with 20-foot high Galvanized Iron Sheets (GI sheets), non-functioning water sprinklers (which rust due to lack of use), not using industrial vacuum cleaners, and failing to provide a bank guarantee, among other issues.