India, April 27 -- Amid rising concerns over air and water pollution across Maharashtra, data from the state environment department shows that out of 34,696 industrial units in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), nearly 19,000 fall under the moderate or highly polluting categories, posing serious risks to human health and the environment.

The environment department, which is already working on stringent measures against highly polluting industries, will impose higher penalties to address the situation, officials aware of the matter told Hindustan Times.

According to data from the environment department, among the 34,696 industrial units in the MMR, 8,872 are located in Kalyan, 7,437 in Mumbai, 7,319 in Navi Mumbai, 7,312 in the Thane-...