14 people were on Friday arrested for allegedly burning tyres, therefore polluting the air.
The suspects were arrested by officers from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Nairobi County officers at Donholm.
The same was confirmed by Nairobi County interim Environment Director Lawrence Mwangi, who said that the burning process is normally done at night.
He said that the group has been doing the same to extract wire which they later sell to steel companies, but has been risking lives of locals in the process and will, therefore, be arraigned in court.
“We have received numerous complaints from Buruburu and Donholm residents over air pollution at night. We have arrested 14 people to be charged with various counts including burning harmful substances in open air and operating an illegal business,” he said after the arrest.
NEMA Nairobi County Director Njoki Mukiri noted that the exercise has been ongoing in some parts of Nairobi and Mombasa despite the authority's directive against the same.
“What has been happening here is harmful to the health of people because some of the tyres are made of hazardous chemicals. It affects people as far as Buruburu and the whole of Eastlands area,” she said.
She also named Lungalunga and Likoni as the other places where such is done, with the group which is currently locked up in a cell in City Hall set to be arraigned in court on Monday.