With Mumbai’s Air Quality Index (AQI) still in the moderate category and the city logging 23 out of 30 bad AQI days in November, residents of Bandra organised Mumbai’s first air quality protest of the year on Sunday. Around 100 residents formed a human chain at Carter Road at 3.30 pm to stage a peaceful demonstration against worsening air quality.
As part of the protest, residents listed five key demands. These included an immediate short-term action plan to reduce pollution, transparent reporting of AQI and pollution sources, strict action on construction dust, waste burning and vehicular emissions, and a declaration of a health emergency in Mumbai due to hazardous AQI levels.
Furkan Shaikh, one of the organisers and founder of We Are Stronger Together Foundation, said, “Over the past few weeks, I started noticing a very visible and worrying pattern in Bandra and across Mumbai. People around me were repeatedly falling sick. The smell and thickness of the air had changed. You can literally see the haze. If citizens don’t act now, we will normalise breathing poisonous air. The human chain was meant to break this silence so that we realise AQI is not just a weather update.”
Protesters peacefully form a human chain on the promenade. Pics/Satej Shinde
Before the protest, the organisers received a notice from Bandra police advising against the gathering. Despite this, residents from Bandra and nearby localities turned up in large numbers. Many belonged to the citizens’ group IM_PACT (Citizens Movement for Environment and Civic Action).
In a statement issued on Sunday, residents said, “We are not against any political party or any government. Our fight is only for clean air. Mumbai cannot become a gas chamber. We want the Maharashtra environment minister, BMC, MPCB and all concerned authorities to declare a Health Emergency, take accountability, and implement immediate solutions. Mumbaikars are choking, and silence is no longer an option.”
Civic activist Zoru Bhathena, who also attended, said, “It was a non-political protest, organised by citizens who have been concerned about the bad air quality of Mumbai and wanted to draw the government’s attention to the fact that we are aware, active and want change.”
Residents added that this was only the start. “This is just the beginning of a larger movement to reclaim Mumbai’s air and safeguard public health,” the statement said.
AQI moderate
Mumbai recorded an AQI of 103 on Sunday, at the lower end of the moderate category. On Saturday, the AQI was 124 with ozone as the primary pollutant. On Friday, it was 128, again with ozone dominating. The worst AQI this month was 188 on November 22, with ozone as the main pollutant.
