Faced with BMC anti-pollution diktat, builders claim green cloth, anti-smog guns unavailable or too expensive

Mumbai: Taken unawares by the BMC’s stringent October 25 guidelines to safeguard citizens from air pollution, builders are claiming that the sudden demand for green nets to cover construction sites has led to a surge in price and black-marketing. They claim that anti-smog guns too are unavailable.

The BMC’s guidelines for air pollution mitigation state that “all buildings under construction shall be compulsorily enclosed by green cloth /jute sheet/ tarpaulin from all sides”. The guidelines were later replicated by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for the whole state.

CREDAI-MCHI, the real estate apex body, and builders claimed that the green material was being sold at two to three times its price: a 50-metre bundle of green cloth that cost ₹2,200 to 3,000 was now being sold between ₹6,000 and ₹9,000, they said.

Rushi Mehta from the Neelyog group of companies, who has SRA projects all over the city, claimed that along with the material cost, the labour charges of installing the nets had also increased. “There is no stock in the market and stop-work notices by BMC will lead to months of delay in each project which owes a commitment to RERA and investors,” he said.

Builders claimed that anti-smog guns, also mandated by the new rules, were unavailable. “Imagine three or four vendors getting 5,000 calls, all asking for anti-smog machines,” said Mehta. “It is natural that supply will not meet the demand. We have no problems in complying with the guidelines, but it needs a practical approach.”

The BMC guidelines state that the strict timeline for procurement of sprinklers is 15 days and procurement of smog guns is 30 days from the issuance of the circular. “There is a mad rush for these products, which has resulted in black marketing,” claimed advocate Harshul Savla, MD of M Realty. “The cost may be borne by developers, but where is the stock?” Savla said that adding green cloth on all floors would lead to a rise in temperature, which was “dangerous for labourers”.

Ridham Gada of the Prem group, whose construction at Mulund is at plinth level, said he did not have to construct the barricading yet, but was complying with the other guidelines. “We are in touch with vendors,” he said. “We have already purchased and installed an AQI monitor, and the green netting is available with my contractor. The vendor has given a quotation for 30-metre and 50-meter smog guns which cost ₹1.80 lakh and ₹2.15 lakh respectively. That is a bit expensive, and we have yet to take a final decision.”

Raajesh Prajapati, founder president of CREDAI MCHI, Raigad, said that even in Panvel and Navi Mumbai, the green net cost had gone up by two and a half to three times. “We had a meeting with the Panvel commissioner, and the good thing is he has agreed to help us with vendors for anti-smog machines,” he said.

HT reached out to BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal but he was unavailable for comment.