Aaditya Thackeray writes to Centre about rising air pollution in city

Mumbai: With the city’s air quality fluctuating between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ in the past six months, former environment minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday wrote a letter to union environment minister Bhupinder Yadav expressing his concerns over the worsening air pollution in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra and its adverse impact on citizens.

Aaditya has demanded the relocation of refineries and fertiliser factories from the city to save the residents of Mahul and Wadala from pollution and the implementation of provisions under the climate action plan for the city.

Thackeray also posted his letter on Twitter and criticised the state government for not having a full-time environment minister and accused them of a lack of sensitivity towards public issues. “I’ve written to union minister Bhupinder Yadav about Maharashtra’s worsening air pollution crisis, also focusing on Mumbai’s AQI. The absence of a full-time environment minister and lack of sensitivity towards public issues in the state’s illegal govt has worsened this crisis, as there is no action on the ground. BMC’s act of study committee and smog towers are only delaying tactics to benefit its contractors. I hope this letter finds resonance and intervention.” Thackeray wrote in his tweet.

In his letter, Aaditya Thackeray said that with G20 events being held in Mumbai its global reputation is at stake and the health of citizens should not take precedence over political differences. He also requested the union minister to direct the government administration to establish a climate cell as suggested by the Climate Action Plan 2022.

Pointing out that oil refineries and fertiliser factories on the eastern coast of the city are responsible for the decline in air quality, he suggested that the central government should consider relocating them.

“Residents in the vicinity in places like Mahul or Wadala are feeling the impact of the poor air quality and foul smell. The government of India should evaluate and relocate these plants away from the city,” he demanded. He also requested Yadav to direct the relevant authorities in the state government to install mobile sensors across Mumbai as the existing sensors do not cover the entire city which provides accurate data to take further decisions.

Referring to data which shows 30% emission of greenhouse gases due to transport, Thackeray has expressed the need to promote the e-bus across the nation to control air pollution. “The central government and the state governments need to support the production and acquisition of at least 1 lakh e-buses across the cities in India and can be funded through green sovereign bonds,” said Thackeray in a letter. He also said that RBI should establish the Indian Financial Institutions Coalition to set standards for sustainable infrastructure projects.

In his letter, Thackeray expressed concern over ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ ratings of air quality in Mumbai for the past 6 months and said that city and towns of Maharashtra are short of fresh air and oxygen. He added that the reason behind the pollution in the city is the construction activities without supervision.