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India’s polluted Mumbai, behind only China’s Beijing in poor air quality, issues new construction rules to combat smog
- Mumbai has asked construction sites to use barricades and banned the burning of rubbish on open ground in a bid to fight worsening air quality
- The move comes two days after Swiss group IQAir rated Mumbai as the world’s second most polluted city on Monday
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India’s financial capital of Mumbai has asked construction sites to use barricades and banned the burning of rubbish on open ground in a bid to combat worsening air quality, according to a government notification.
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The move comes two days after Swiss group IQAir rated Mumbai with an air quality index (AQI) of 160, making it the second most polluted city in the world on Monday, behind only China’s Beijing. A score between 151-200 is classed as ‘unhealthy’, while a score below 100 is ‘healthy’.
Among the guidelines released on Wednesday by Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp (BMC), construction sites in the city were asked to erect barricades at building sites of up to 35-feet (10.67m) using tin or metal sheets, or enclose the sites with tarpaulin.
The BMC also said it would monitor air pollution emitted from plants belonging to state owned refiners like Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, as well as privately owned Tata Power, all of whom have plants in Mumbai.
Mumbai recorded an AQI of 157 on Wednesday, according to India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), giving it a rating of “moderate”.
New Delhi, which has been rated the world’s most polluted capital by IQAir for consecutive years, recorded an AQI of 243 and is rated as “poor” by the CPCB.
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Mumbai and New Delhi are host cities for the Cricket World Cup, which is currently under way. Although the tournament has so far remained unaffected by the prevailing pollution, cricketers have flagged the problem.
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