Mumbai in list of 123 most polluted cities, Minister of state for enviroment says

Mumbai lists amongst the 123 most-polluted cities from the country as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Minister of state for environment Pravin Pote-Patil said during a day long workshop of ‘Clean Air Maharashtra Resolve 2002’ on Wednesday.

Minister of state for environment Pravin Pote-Patil  said that Mumbai and Navi Mumbai figure in the list of polluted cities and the state government intends to make Maharashtra pollution-free by 2002 by adopting various pollution control measures.

He added, “Main contributors to the air pollution in the state are vehicles and factories.

Quoting Economy Survey he said total number of vehicles (all category) registered in the state is 2.93 crore which included 2.14 crore motorcycle, 41.51 lakh cars, 2.18 lakh taxis, 7.44 lakh autorickshaws, 24,910 lakh school bus and 6.39 lakh tractors.

Total number of registered industrial units in the Maharashtra in 2014-15 was 28,601.

The minister clarified that the reason behind so many cities in the state have been identified as having poor air quality because the state has set up air quality monitoring systems in 72 places, unlike Gujarat, where there is just one such unit in place.

He added that the municipal corporations in the state should allocate 25 per cent of their budgetary allocations towards pollution control measures and the task should be taken up as a mission mode.