BMC to bakeries: Go electric or use gas, face action if you use wood

NGO claims 47 per cent of city’s bakehouses are offenders; civic body wants them to go electric or use PNG

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will issue notices to bakeries using wood as fuel. Officials stated that action would soon begin against such establishments. 

In order to reduce pollution in the city, the civic body said that it would audit each bakery to ensure all their ovens are electric or fuelled by piped natural gas (PNG).  

According to the findings of an NGO, the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), 47.10 per cent of bakeries in the city use wood as fuel. mid-day had reported on the practice on August 22.  

According to the BEAG’s report on 200 bakeries out of the 628 registered with the BMC, the bakeries primarily use wood from old furniture and dilapidated buildings due to its lower cost compared to logwood. 

Larger wood-consuming bakeries reported daily usage of 250 to 300 kilograms of wood, while the average wood consumption for wood-fired bakeries was approximately 130 kg, daily.  

To process 20 kg of flour, about four to five kilograms of wood is required. The cost of scrap wood is around R4-5 per kg, whereas logwood costs R10-12 per kg.  

According to the data from the BMC, there are around 1,200 bakeries in Mumbai.
  
The BEAG’S research report states that only 28.10 per cent of bakeries in the city use electric ovens and 20.90 per cent use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), while only 1.30 per cent of bakeries use PNG and 1.30 per cent use diesel.

“We have stopped issuing licences to firewood-based bakeries since 2007. But we have been receiving complaints that there are still many bakeries running on 
firewood,” an official of the environment department of the BMC said.  

The civic official added, “During the audit, we will issue notices to all bakeries to use electric or PNG ovens.”  

The BEAG’s report estimated around 700 bakeries are running illegally in the city. “We do not have the exact numbers, but our team will identify such bakeries and will decide on our course of action by consulting the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board,” said an official.

1,200
No. of bakeries in Mumbai as per BMC data

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