MPCB shuts four non-compliant concrete plants in Mumbai to check air pollution
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has shut down four ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants in Mumbai and initiated action against 37 units, recovering penalties of Rs 1.87 crore amid stepped-up measures to curb air pollution.
"Special flying squads will immediately begin inspections to verify whether prescribed conditions are being followed, and strict action, including closure, will be taken against violators," said M Devender Singh, member secretary, MPCB, referring to the action initiated against RMC plants contributing to air pollution.
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The MPCB has constituted four special inspection teams for Mumbai city and two for Navi Mumbai to conduct on-site inspections of RMC plants, following a review meeting chaired by MPCB chairman Siddhesh Kadam, according to a statement issued by Singh on Sunday.
The review focused on strengthening enforcement against units found flouting environmental norms, he said.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation recently suspended the ongoing work related to the Bullet Train in the Bandra-Kurla Complex due to non-compliance with anti-air pollution norms.
According to the MPCB, inspections so far have led to the recovery of penalties amounting to Rs 1.87 crore from 37 RMC plants, and four establishments have been ordered to shut operations over violations linked to air pollution.
Kadam, meanwhile, stated that the MPCB, in coordination with the municipal corporation, had launched a focused enforcement drive to maintain air quality in the city.
"Appropriate steps will be taken to protect air quality and stringent action will be initiated wherever required," he said.
Singh said the board has been conducting a daily review of air quality, and flying squads were being deployed to ensure compliance with conditions imposed on establishments.
He added that inspections would be carried out without delay wherever deterioration in air quality was reported.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region has 32 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations, of which 14 are within Mumbai city. In addition, 22 mobile monitoring vans are available and being deployed to carry out immediate measurements in areas where air quality levels decline, the board said.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday castigated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for turning a "blind eye" towards air pollution in the city and for "not doing anything" to mitigate the problem.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad also questioned how the BMC had granted sanction to more than 125 construction projects over Rs 1,000 crore in a city like Mumbai, stating that the situation has now gone beyond the civic body's control.
The court had warned the BMC that it would issue orders restraining it from granting any further permissions for construction if the air pollution situation persists in the city.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
