On a Sunday afternoon, the Mumbai skyline from the spanking new Eastern Freeway seems like an altered reality. The Ambani skyscrapermansion has disappeared and so has the perpetually underconstruction JK House. The imposing Imperial Towers have been cut to size, their top half all but gone. Several other buildings have also just fallen off the jagged vista.

This is the picture the city's horizon - anyway a pretty sight only in pieces - has provided for most of this winter, with the allsmothering haze nibbling away at its corners. But a ruined view is smaller of the issues here. The haze, a deadly combination of nitrogen oxide and suspended particulate matter has made the city sick. And while the chill is one of the reasons why the haze has got such a stranglehold on us, it's the other reason - the frenzied digging and construction activity all over the city -- that makes it so potent.

Mumbai digs itself into a haze

As you read this, 223 roads across the city are either being concretised or a layer of asphalt is being laid on them at an estimated cost of Rs 1,002 crore. The misery is evenly spread across Mumbai - 32 roads are being concretised in the island city (Nariman Point to Mahim), 19 in the eastern suburbs, and 20 in the western suburbs. Asphalting work is being carried out on 103 roads in the island city and 49 in the western suburbs. And that is only the road repairs undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The State Public Works Department separately is widening and concretising the Sion-Panvel highway. The widening and concretising work is being carried out simultaneously.

Add to this the under-construction Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, the 100-metre long underpass being dug near the international airport to connect to the Sahar elevated road, the Rs 22-cr Kherwadi flyover, the BMC's 84.52-crore project to overhaul the old drains, and miles and miles of trenches being dug by utility services to lay wires and pipes and cables. Also, before you lose your breath, count in nearly 1000 commercial and residential buildings under construction across the city.

The result of this hysterical digging and construction activity is that the city has turned into a giant excavation site, as if after Unnao a sadhu had now dreamt of unending deposits of gold under Mumbai roads. It is impossible to travel from any one point to another without being caught in a traffic snarl caused by a dug-up road. It is common for taxis and autos to refuse fares to areas like Khar, Sion, Bandra (East) and Colaba Causeway where dug-up roads lead to nightmarish jams.

While in a city of Mumbai's size there will always be some or the other road repair on, what's unprecedented is the number of works that are being simultaneously carried out. It is obvious that there is no coordination between various agencies in this rush to relay roads, widen highways, improve drainage, build flyovers, and repairs pavements.

But there are a few reasons why all this work is taking place simultaneously and at a pace as if there is no tomorrow:

1. The financial year-end is approaching. Agencies, including the BMC, have budgets to use.

2. It's election year and politicians, having slept for five years, are in a rush to beef up their CVs.

3. The delayed withdrawal of monsoon left agencies with less time to finish projects.

4. Did you really think anybody cares how much time it takes you to reach office or the SPM levels wrecking your respiratory system?

Bandra (East) is a good example how poorly coordinated all these digging works are. At this point, a major road in the neighbourhood is being concretised, several smaller roads are being relaid with asphalt, the Kherwadi junction flyover is being built, many local civil works are underway, and the sprawling MIG Colony is under redevelopment.

Kalanagar resident Siddharth Pardhe said it takes him half-anhour to reach Western Express Highway every morning when he leaves for work. "Who sanctioned these works to be carried out all at the same time in such a small area? Couldn't they have staggered these works? Is there no coordination between various agencies that take up these works," he said.

The answers to Pardhe's three questions are: 1. Nobody 2. Yes. 3. No.

There is some semblance of coordination when bigger projects are executed. But for the sort of works going on in Bandra (East) permissions are sought and acquired locally with nobody looking at the big picture.

Mass transport expert and environment activist Rishi Aggarwal says it's just callousness on the part of various agencies that leads to the kind of mess that Mumbai finds itself today. "There is never going to be a point where a city is done with all development work. But does that mean we will have to put up with this chaos forever? The way out is strict enforcement of norms," he said.

Chaos, in fact, is the excuse put forth by officials for clubbing works together. "We only have a window of eight months when there is no rain. Since this year there are elections too, local representatives are pressing us to do maximum work before May.

We struggle to get a no-objection certificate from the traffic police. So when we do get permission, we try to club all the work together and finish all of it in one go," said a BMC official requesting anonymity.

And while traffic is the first casualty of dug-up roads and unregulated construction work, the second is the residents' health. Official readings since mid-November reveal that the dip in temperatures and the construction activity all over has led to pollution levels surpassing the standard limits by 100 per cent.

According to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board logs, pollution levels - particularly nitrogen oxide (NOx) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) - have seen an alarming spike. For instance, SPM was recorded at 286 micrograms per cubic meter on December 16 and 272 micrograms per cubic meter on December 26 at the Sion monitoring station. On December 4, NOx was recorded at 225 micrograms per cubic metre. Anything above 100 micrograms of SPM and 80 micrograms of NOx in a cubic metre of air is dangerous to human health.

Though there are norms in place to control release of SPM into the air from construction sites, these are never followed.

The BMC's Environment Status Report (ESR) last year had blamed unregulated construction activity for the rise in air pollution.

"Taking cue from the report we issued a circular directing all agencies to ensure pollution control mechanisms like sweeping machines and water sprinklers at sites. Similarly, private construction activity is also subject to pollution control norms," Additional Commissioner Mohan Adtani said.

It's evident that none of the agencies or private builders are taking any such measures. In fact, hundreds of open trucks carrying debris from construction sites spread the dust across the city.

At many places where road works are on, residents are forced to keep their windows shut. The area outside Wadala station is an example. "The entire Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg has been dug up for concretization. The monorail work is also going on simultaneously. There is dust all over and we haven't opened our windows for the past few weeks. While we want better roads, breathing dust can't be the price we have to pay. I haven't seen any sweepers or water sprinklers at the site to prevent the dust from spreading," said investment consultant Bhavik Dand, who stays across the station.

Though NEERI scientist Dr Rakesh Kumar said the pollution levels would ebb after temperatures rise, environmentalist say the winter can't be blamed entirely for a city choking on its own breath.

Concentration of pollutants in the air is a phenomenon common every winter. But this year, the city has witnessed nearly 100% increase in the concentration of suspended particulate matter.

When asked about the norms laid down by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Assistant Technical Secretary P K Mirashe said there was no mechanism to monitor pollution caused by small projects and that only mega infrastructure projects like the Sea Link and the Coastal Road are required to take a clearance from the pollution control authorities. "No stipulated consent is required and no action has been taken against such defaulters so far. The local planning authorities (in this case the BMC and MMRDA) are responsible to carry out the work and maintain the basic norms of air and noise pollution. These norms are prescribed in the various pollution control acts," Mirashe said.

Real estate sector is a large contributor to dust pollution in the city. With around 1000 odd residential and commercial projects in the city, there is no system to verify the quantum of dust discharged by each one of them. For large projects above 20000 sq mts, a Ministry of Environment and Forest clearance is mandatory. One of the parameters while applying for sanctions is an undertaking stating that dust pollution would be contained during construction.

Standard format for the undertaking is, "Dust is likely to be generated during construction, this will be water sprinkled and tarpaulin covers will be provided over stored raw material to reduce dust emission." None of these undertakings are honoured.

As everyone bypasses laws, fudges through undertakings, and ignores norms, Mumbai is wheezing and sneezing through life. "The entire city seems to be ill. The number of cases I see of common cold, throat infections, and flu are staggering," said Dr Ashok Mahashur, a senior chest physician at Hinduja Hospital. He said the number of bronchitis cases have also seen a spike. "These cases are directly linked to the rise in pollution. And it is a worrying situation."

NEERI's Dr Kumar said while the increase in respiratory infections in the city is alarming, what he is truly worried about is the long-term impact of exposure to such high levels of pollution. "We have seen the short-term impact. But does anybody know what impact inhaling of such polluted air will have in 20 years?"