Mumbai: With the pollution level in Mumbai rising after monsoons, the bakeries across the city have been brought under the scanner for using wood fuel, which pose serious health risks.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has served notices to nearly 650 bakeries, directing them to switch from firewood to alternate fuel sources like electric or CNG to combat air pollution.
According to the BMC, bakery kilns have turned out to be one of the major reasons behind air pollution. It has been found that around 47 percent of the bakeries in Mumbai use wood as fuel for their kilns. The smoke emitted from these kilns is harmful for citizens. These kilns mainly use scrap from construction sites and furniture stores for their operations. Due to this, a huge amount of pollutants are released into the atmosphere, causing a host of health problems.
In small bakeries, approximately 50 to 100 kg of wood is used as fuel every day whereas in large bakeries, the firewood consumption is around 250 to 300 kg. Around five kg of wood is required to make 20 kg of flour bread.
When scrap wood is used as fuel, harmful gases like methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds are released, which can cause serious ailments like respiratory diseases and asthma. Some microparticles mix with smoke and enter lungs and this can even cause cancer or blood vessel related diseases.
On condition of anonymity, a bakery owner said scrap wood is cheaper compared to other materials. "Today, wood for fuel costs Rs 15 per kg while the price of scrap wood is only Rs 5 per kg. The municipality has also given the option of using gas cylinders and CNG. But, if you use a commercial cylinder, its price goes up to Rs 92.05 per kg and if you use CNG, the cost will be Rs 58.78 per kg. Now, if we use electric kilns, the cost is Rs 12 per unit. In comparison, scrap wood is much more affordable," he said.
According to the an official of the BMC, there are about 1,200 bakeries in Mumbai, of which more than half are unauthorised. Since 2007, 560 bakeries have been given permission to operate on condition that they use electric and CNG ovens. Despite this, more than half of the bakeries use scrap wood as fuel, he said. "Thus, the municipality has now sent notices to 650 bakery owners warning them of stern action if they do not use grates or CNG as fuel within a year," he added.
BMC has warned the bakery operators that if they fail to adopt cleaner methods of fuel to combat pollution within a year, then they will be shut down.
Read more
