Mumbai: As of January 21, at least 102 bakeries in Mumbai are running illegally, who will most likely be prosecuted, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said. “The inspection report is ready and prosecution is process. The report will be submitted to the Bombay High Court (HC) for further orders on shutting down the unauthorized bakeries in the city,” a senior BMC officer told FPJ on Tuesday.
The inspections were carried out by the BMC’s environment and health department staff to ensure the bakeries followed safety norms and had the required documentation. The action comes after the recent Bombay HC order to authorities, including the BMC, to take urgent and effective measures to control air pollution in Mumbai.
The court had maintained that the pollution and particulate matter emitted by bakeries as one of the major sources of pollution in the city. The court also asked the BMC to ensure bakeries using coal and wood are converted to CNG, Gas or Green fuel. Reportedly, around 47 percent of the bakeries in Mumbai use wood as fuel for their kilns.
“The bakeries running without authorization need to be shut down to control air pollution. The court has also directed to ensure all bakeries use green fuels. So far, the inspection report of 102 bakeries is ready and prosecution proceedings are being carried out,” the officer from BMC’s environment department said.
The officer added that the 102 bakeries have already been slammed with notices and if any of them can meet minimum human and environmental safety requirements, it can be considered to permit them to run. The prosecution against the illegal bakeries is in process and ward wise report will be sent.
In December 2024 BMC had issued notices to nearly 650 bakeries, directing them to switch from firewood to alternate fuel sources like electric or CNG to combat air pollution.
On January 9, the HC had questioned the Maharashtra government, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and BMC over their inability to curb rising air pollution in the city. It remarked that all the authorities are aware of the problems and the reasons behind the depleting Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city, and emphasized that there the authorities are casual in taking strict actions.
The AQI in Mumbai continued to remain under ‘Moderate’ category on Tuesday. As per the Central Pollution Control Board recording some of the areas with the poorest AQI were: Byculla (177), Malad West (176), Chhatrapati Shivaji Intl. Airport T2 (160), Navy Nagar-Colaba (154), Siddharth Nagar-Worli (149), BKC (151).
