Congress leader and former Maharashtra state minister Varsha Gaikwad. | Photo credit: Yohaan Ashish Varghese
A day after the Bombay High Court expressed concern over Mumbai’s deteriorating air quality and ordered the formation of a five-member committee to monitor construction-related pollution, Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad on Saturday accused the Mahayuti government of turning Mumbai into a “gas chamber” under the guise of development as the city grapples with hazardous air quality. Ms. Gaikwad demanded immediate intervention to deal with rising pollution levels, citing a Harvard University study that estimated nearly 5,100 deaths in Mumbai every year due to pollution-related diseases. The Bombay High Court on Friday constituted a five-member panel to check the pollution at the construction site.
At a press conference organized by the Congress in Mumbai, Ms Gaikwad and party workers wore oxygen masks to emphasize the gravity of the crisis. She called for a comprehensive pollution control plan, strict enforcement of environmental standards and protection of green spaces, and warned that uncontrolled development and violations of environmental safeguards were pushing the city into a state of public health threat.
“These are not just numbers. These are families who are losing loved ones,” Ms Gaikwad said, referring to the Harvard study. “Kids are sick, seniors are having trouble breathing. If this isn’t a public health emergency, what is?”
It accused Mahayuti’s government of following a “first-contractor-last-people model” and alleged rampant construction without safeguards, violation of environmental norms, allotment of open spaces and ecologically sensitive zones to favored builders and indiscriminate felling of trees. She said the administration’s approach lacked responsibility and urgency, adding that the Mumbai Congress would not allow contractors and cronies to decide the city’s future.
She also raised the issue on social media platform X and wrote, “STOP CHOKING MUMBAI! LET OUR CITY BREATHE. PM 2.5 levels in Mumbai are dangerous. A Harvard University study estimates that nearly 5,100 Mumbaikars die every year due to pollution. This is not just his contract. These are the families who are losing the most corrupt, Mah-last-fire, loved ones.”
Citing the various causes of air pollution, Ms. Gaikwad continued, “Continuous construction without safeguards, blatant violation of environmental norms, donation of open spaces and eco-sensitive zones to Laadka builders, indiscriminate felling of trees, zero accountability and zero urgency. Mumbai is turning into a gas chamber in the name of development. If children are not suffering from breathing. is it?”
Demanding immediate action from the ruling government, it proposed a strong pollution control plan, strict enforcement of norms, protection of green cover and accountability for any violator. “The Bombay Congress will not allow contractors and cronies to decide the fate of Mumbai. We will fight for Mumbaikars’ right to clean air. We will fight for our city’s right to live,” she wrote.
Published – 29 Nov 2025 21:37 IST
