Mumbai’s construction and demolition waste collection increased by about 46 per cent on a comparable January-September basis in 2026, while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation intensified registration, vehicle tracking and penalties to prevent illegal dumping and construction-related dust.
According to the civic body, approximately 2.06 lakh metric tonnes of construction and demolition waste were collected between January 1 and October 18. Around 2.01 lakh metric tonnes were processed during the same period. The collection has already exceeded the approximately 1.69 lakh metric tonnes recorded during the whole of calendar year 2025.
The enforcement measures are being implemented under the guidance of the High Power Committee overseeing air pollution mitigation measures in Mumbai. The BMC said the framework requires construction sites to be registered on the Mumbai Debris Control and Tracking System, or MDCTS, while vehicles transporting debris must be tracked and directed only to authorised processing or unloading facilities.
The civic body has instructed all wards to identify and register private, government, semi-government and municipal construction and demolition sites. It has also issued circulars and public notices and conducted training for ward-level officers to support implementation.
Mumbai currently has two BMC-operated construction and demolition waste processing facilities, located at Dahisar and Daighar. Bulk waste generators have been directed to transport debris only to authorised recycling facilities. The BMC said ward-level monitoring and follow-up had contributed to the increase in the quantity of waste reaching authorised facilities.
As of Monday, 499 stakeholders had registered on the MDCTS portal, including 331 builders and developers. Forty-eight registrations, including those of 40 builders and developers, were recorded on Monday alone. The portal is intended to improve accountability by tracking debris from the point where it is generated to its authorised destination.
The BMC has also stressed the installation and active use of Vehicle Tracking and Monitoring Systems on vehicles carrying construction debris. The system is intended to help officials monitor vehicle movement and verify whether each load is delivered to an authorised facility rather than being discarded on roadsides, open spaces or other unauthorised locations.
Between April 1 and October 15, civic authorities detected 42 cases involving the transportation of construction and demolition waste without an approved plan. The BMC said penalties totalling Rs 10.50 lakh were collected during this period. Non-compliant vehicles may attract penalties of up to Rs 25,000 per vehicle per day.
The civic body said the objective of the end-to-end monitoring framework was to ensure that every construction site was registered, every debris-carrying vehicle was tracked and every load reached an authorised processing or unloading facility. It linked improved tracking, increased recycling and stricter enforcement to efforts to prevent illegal dumping and control construction-related dust, which it identified as one source of urban air pollution.
Stakeholders have been directed to register and use the Mumbai Debris Control and Tracking System portal for compliance with the waste-management requirements.
