India, Feb. 23 -- Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, urging the civic body to immediately halt all construction activity in the city for a week as Mumbai remains engulfed in severe smog for the past three days.

In his two-page letter, Thackeray said the "obnoxious levels of pollution" were a hassle for citizens. "No city in the world can attract visitors, investment or even keep its own citizens healthy with such pollution. I urge you to halt all private construction activity for a week," said Thackeray. He urged the civic body to introduce a ward-wise construction time schedule to meet clean air goals.

BMC sources, however, said that the spi...