Ban on petrol, diesel cars in Mumbai? Maharashtra sets up committee to improve worsening air quality  

The Maharashtra government has established a seven-member committee to explore the possibility of banning petrol and diesel vehicles in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area (MMA), in response to the city’s worsening air quality. 

The committee, led by retired IAS officer Sudhir Kumar Shrivastava, is tasked with conducting a study and submitting its findings within three months, according to a government resolution issued on January 22. 

Other members of the committee include Maharashtra’s transport commissioner, Mumbai’s joint police commissioner (traffic), the managing director of Mahanagar Gas Limited, the project manager of Maharashtra State Power Distribution Company Limited (Mahavitaran), the president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), and the joint transport commissioner (enforcement-1), who will serve as the member secretary. 

The committee is authorised to invite experts in relevant fields and seek their input, as outlined in the government resolution. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) also includes areas in the neighbouring districts of Thane, Raigad and Palghar. 

The Bombay High Court expressed grave concerns about traffic congestion and the escalating pollution in Mumbai, while hearing a suo-motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on January 9 and highlighted their adverse effects on quality of life, the environment, and sustainability. 

The court pointed out that vehicle emissions are a significant source of air pollution and criticised current measures to manage traffic and pollution in Mumbai as insufficient. 

In response, the state government formed the committee to examine and report on the feasibility of imposing a ban on petrol and diesel vehicles in the MMR, allowing only CNG and electric vehicles. 

The High Court had emphasised that vehicles clogging Mumbai’s roads are a major contributor to the city’s declining air quality and called for a thorough evaluation of whether phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles would be “appropriate or feasible”.  

The court also directed the committee to complete its study and submit its report within three months. 

Additionally, the High Court ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to ensure that city bakeries using wood or coal transition to gas or other green fuels within six months, instead of the previously set one-year deadline. No new approvals for bakeries or similar businesses using coal or wood will be granted and new licenses will only be issued to those using green fuel, it added. 

The court also instructed the civic body and MPCB to install pollution monitoring indicators at construction sites. 

Bollywood actress and environmental advocate Dia Mirza has called upon Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to address the worsening air pollution in Mumbai. “I appeal to you as a mother to please address this matter with the empathy and urgency of a parent (folded hand emoji)," she added.
She also shared a map of Mumbai which showed the AQIs of different locations.

Mumbai, often touted as India’s financial capital, has witnessed a steady decline in its air quality, with several areas recording Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories.