BMC to Revoke Project Permissions of Builders Violating Mumbai Air Pollution Norms
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has introduced stringent measures against builders across Mumbai who fail to implement air pollution mitigation guidelines. Under the new rules, the civic body will revoke development permissions for non-compliant projects and suspend the licences of associated architects and licensed surveyors.
The civic administration has also mandated a 100% penalty of the applicable premium rates for any unauthorised construction activity carried out after a stop-work notice has been served.
The tough measures follow directives issued by the High Powered Committee (HPC). According to civic authorities, the committee intervened after observing that air quality in the city was not improving during certain intervals despite enforcement actions and stop-work notices served on construction sites.
A civic official explained that the lack of improvement led to the inference that construction sites were ignoring civic directives. Some developers were suspected of continuing unauthorised operations under the assumption that they would avoid repercussions. In response, the HPC instructed the municipal corporation to halt negligence by project proponents toward air pollution control norms, prompting the new conditions.
To tighten administrative oversight, the BMC has also linked the enforcement process directly to its digital workflow. The civic body has made the issuance of notices to construction sites an integrated part of AutoDCR, the civic corporation's online platform used for building permission approvals.
