Air quality remains poor in Mumbai; IMD predicts cloudy skies for Saturday

The New Year kicked-off with very poor air quality and reduced visibility owing to hazy conditions on Friday.

The New Year kicked-off with very poor air quality and reduced visibility owing to hazy conditions on Friday.

Workers at the coastal road project site at Worli Sea-face. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The air quality in Mumbai and its surrounding areas continued to remain in the very poor category for the second consecutive day as the inflow of air from the land (continental air), instead of from the sea persisted.

According to System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), an overall air quality index (AQI)—a pollutant measuring indicator- of 307 (very poor) was recorded.

Of the 10 stations where the air quality was measured, Bandra Kurla Complex had the worst air quality with an AQI of 358, followed by Mazagaon where an AQI of 347 was measured. A spokesperson from SAFAR said that the air quality is likely to remain in the very poor category on Saturday as cold wave continued to hit the city. Haze, too, is likely to continue for one more day as cloudy conditions persist, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Minimum temperatures rose further on Friday at both Colaba and Santacruz stations of IMD. Colaba recorded a minimum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, which is 2.7 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature at Santacruz was 20.6 degrees Celsius, a whopping 3.5 degrees above normal and 2.1 degrees above Thursday’s minimum temperature.

For Saturday, the IMD has predicted partly cloudy skies with maximum temperature touching 34 degree Celsius and minimum at 22 degree Celsius.