Mumbai monsoon enters final stretch. BMC turns focus to new problem – Pollution

Mumbai's monsoon season is nearing its conclusion, raising concerns about a potential decline in air quality. In response, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in collaboration with the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), has initiated a research project to map pollution emissions in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). This study aims to pinpoint pollution hotspots across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Thane, and establish an early warning system for air quality.

The investigation is currently underway in several wards of Mumbai, with a focus on identifying ground-level sources of pollution. The Mumbai atmosphere is constantly changing, and pollution sources are evolving rapidly. To create an effective mitigation plan, it is crucial to pinpoint these sources of emission. The study will gradually expand to other areas of the MMR, as confirmed by a senior BMC official speaking to The Indian Express.

The collected data will be utilized by the BMC for the proposed Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) and Decision Support System (DSS), which are being developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune. In a previous study conducted in 2019, the BMC found that residences were the primary source of pollution, followed by commercial and institutional buildings and on-road vehicular transportation.

With the city's pollution levels deteriorating rapidly over the past four years, the BMC enlisted ARAI in October 2025 to discover new sources of emission.

This time around, the research will encompass the entire MMR, including the cities surrounding Mumbai, as they share a common airshed. Pollutants can quickly disperse from one location to another in an airshed, making it essential to use an air-shed based approach to manage air pollution. The study will be conducted for over a year to analyze the shift in emission patterns across different seasons, including summer, winter, and monsoon.