Mumbai: Need to clear the air out there

On Thursday, when the rest of the city was enjoying a largely ‘satisfactory’ air quality (AQI 115), BMC’s air quality was ‘very poor’ at 301. 

Officials from the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), which monitors AQI at 10 locations in the city, said BKC is exposed to this level of particulate matter and pollution round the year. With ceaseless construction, commuting and development activity, the air here was bound to take a hit.

High on pollution 

PM 2.5 is particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometre, that is about 3 per cent the diameter of a human hair, and known to cause respiratory illnesses and aggravating ailments like asthma and bronchitis.

SAFAR director Dr Gufran Beig affirmed that long-term observation of PM 2.5 levels at BKC shows it is consistently high, mostly above 280, during most f the year and worse during winters.

“Other than dust from the massive construction work which has been going on for years, burning of biomass for fuel in nearby Dharavi also affects the air quality,” he said.

A senior MMRDA official said the issue has been discussed at various forums and strict construction guidelines have been formulated. “But since BKC’s not a prominent residential locality, nobody is bothered, nor are there complaints on the basis of which Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) could act,” he said.

Urban heat island effect

The felt temperature is always some degrees higher than the real temperature in BKC, because of a micro-climatic phenomenon called urban heat island effect (UHIE), which riles the air further.

“There are multiple causes for this. The most significant is the use of materials such as concrete, which has an emissivity of nearly 0.85. Such hardscapes used on building facades, terraces, roads and parking lots have increased surface heat storage capacity and aggravate heat island conditions,” said architect Roshni Udyavar Yehuda, a former head of Rachana Sansad Institute of Environmental Architecture.

Besides, the sprawling offices and buildings with curtain-glass façades are energy guzzlers that recreate the greenhouse effect. “The heat trap created requires tons of air conditioning, throwing the heat outdoors. Dense and stratified urban layouts conceived without consideration of prevailing winds also block free flow of air, increasing discomfort for people visiting BKC,” Yehuda said.

Lack of green cover

Town planners also rue the fact that though BKC has wide roads and a planned layout, there is no green canopy to dispel UHIE and particulate matter. “A common plantation one sees these days in BKC is the palm, which is an ornamental tree. It adds zero value to biodiversity and offers no shade. All around, one sees concrete structures,” says environmentalist Zoru Bhatena.

Stalin D, director, Projects for Vanashakti, said several rain trees in BKC have died over time and MMRD, which was supposed to transplant them or and carry out compensatory plantation in G Block for Monorail construction, didn’t do it. “BKC was built by reclaiming land and was supposed to be planned. But only the construction seems to have been planned, not the tree cover,” he said, adding that this sums up MMRDA’s attitude towards environment. Many environmentalists rued that an opportunity to build a sustainable business district has been lost.

There is still hope

Green architects said a lot can be changed with appropriate interventions. “Roadside plantation with large shaded trees can immediately reduce heat island phenomenon. Use of grass pavers for parking, shaded or creeper-covered pergolas over parking areas will help reduce UHIE,” said Yehuda, adding that it would help if buildings opt for rooftop gardens.