Fogging machines deployed in Mumbai to settle dust in air, curb pollution

In a bid to bring down air pollution in Mumbai, fogging machines have been set up which will settle dust in the air, Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar said on Wednesday.

He said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is closely monitoring the situation.

"Fogging machines which are used for settling dust in the air have been deployed. The remaining '5 technologies' will be in place soon to curb the pollution," Kesarkar, the guardian minister of Mumbai district, told a press conference here.

Among other measures, the city civic body has started taking action against concerned entities violating the air pollution guidelines, he added.

Notably, CM Shinde on Tuesday morning visited parts of Mumbai to review steps taken to control dust and air pollution and said the city civic body has been directed to do cloud seeding if required.

The civic body has already approached a Dubai-based company, which has 100 per cent accuracy in cloud seeding and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed with it, Shinde had said.

A total of 584 kilometres of roads in 24 administrative wards of Mumbai are being regularly washed and cleaned to control dust as part of efforts to curb air pollution, the civic body said on Monday.

Fitting vehicle-mounted air filters on 350 BEST buses, setting up virtual chimneys at traffic congestion spots, placing special streetlights and installing air purification systems in select gardens are some of the technological measures being identified to control air pollution in Mumbai.