City breathes its cleanest air in five months

As per the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the city’s AQI remained at a ‘moderate’ 107 at 7pm, while the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily AQI bulletin showed a ‘satisfactory’ index value of 90. As per CPCB data, Mumbai’s last ‘satisfactory’ air day was on October 22, 2022, when the AQI settled at 79

Mumbai: After being covered in a cascading haze of smog for months and air quality fluctuating between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’, Monday saw the city breathing its cleanest air in five months. Thanks to the influence of western disturbances passing over the city, bringing faster winds and unseasonal rains, and improved air quality.

Weather in the city remained pleasant for a third day, with the daytime temperature peaking at 31.8 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal. For the first time since February 1, the city is seeing below-normal daytime temperatures. (Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

As per the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the city’s AQI remained at a ‘moderate’ 107 at 7pm, while the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily AQI bulletin showed a ‘satisfactory’ index value of 90. As per CPCB data, Mumbai’s last ‘satisfactory’ air day was on October 22, 2022, when the AQI settled at 79.

“Many parts of the city have seen some measure of rain along with strong and gusty winds over the last day or so. It’s natural for suspended airborne particles to get dispersed by wind, or are washed out by a process called ‘wet deposition’. Mumbai should see clean air for another day or two,” said Gufran Beig, founder-director, SAFAR.

On Monday, the state government informed the legislative council that it has appointed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as nodal agency for pollution control in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Sunil Shinde raised the issue of bad air quality and increasing pollution in the city. While answering the issue of pollution in Mumbai, the government in a written reply said that the pollution in Mumbai is under control and there is no rise in pollution during January 2023 and February 2023 in comparison with the last two years.

The government also claimed that there was no increase in patients with respiratory diseases in Mumbai but Deepak Kesarkar, guardian minister of Mumbai and in charge of the environment department, accepted that dust particles are a major contributor to worsening air quality in Mumbai.

To understand how air quality is monitored, a reading of an AQI between 0-50 is ‘good’, between 51-100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 is ‘moderate’, 201-300 is ‘poor’, 301-400 is ‘very poor’ and 400 and above is ‘severe’.

Weather in the city remained pleasant for a third day, with the daytime temperature peaking at 31.8 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal. For the first time since February 1, the city is seeing below-normal daytime temperatures. Just days ago, on March 12, the city was the hottest location in the country at 39.4 degrees Celsius, which was a whopping six degrees above normal.

Passing western disturbances are bringing cool air over the region, and the interaction with dry winds blowing from the east causes the temperature initially to rise and then cool down under the influence of thunderstorms and rain.