BMC halts bullet train work at BKC over violation of pollution norms

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered an immediate halt to construction activities for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project for non-compliance with air pollution mitigation norms.

According to officials, the civic body on Wednesday issued a stop-work notice to contractors at the project site in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), after inspections flagged multiple violations related to dust control and air quality management.

Earlier this week, the Bombay High Court came down heavily on the BMC for turning a ''blind eye'' towards the issue of air pollution in the city and for ''not doing anything'' to mitigate the problem.

It questioned how the civic body had granted sanction to over 125 construction projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore in a small city like Mumbai, and warned it against granting any further permissions for construction if the air pollution situation persists.

The bullet train project is being implemented by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), a joint venture of the Union Railway Ministry and the governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

All construction activities involving excavation, digging and earth movement have been stopped with immediate effect at the BKC site, and work will resume only after contractors have fully complied with air pollution control guidelines, a civic official said.

Certain preparatory activities may continue, subject to civic approval, he added.

This is the second notice issued to the contractors.

A senior civic official stated that on December 2, the BMC served a show-cause notice after inspection squads found that air pollution mitigation norms were being violated at the site.

During a follow-up inspection this week, officials found that the earlier corrective measures were only partially implemented or did not align with the prescribed standards, prompting the civic body to take stricter action, he said.

Inspections revealed deficiencies, including inadequate barricade height, delayed installation of air-quality monitoring equipment, uncovered vehicles transporting construction materials, absence of water sprinklers on internal roads, and improper handling of construction debris, the official said.

The civic body has stated that the stop-work order will remain in force until all mandated dust and air pollution control measures are fully implemented at the site.

The 508 km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor is India's first bullet train project.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)