Mumbai had 2nd cleanest air day on Thursday, air quality to better on Friday

Nine out of 10 locations recorded ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ air quality in Mumbai on Thursday. The cleanest air in the city was recorded at Colaba and Worli, with AQI of 25 and 29, respectively, falling under the ‘good’ category.

Mumbai witnessed its second cleanest air day this year so far on Thursday, as the day and night temperatures remained below the normal mark.

Breacj Candy in Mumbai, on Thursday, May 9, 2019.(Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

According to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the pollutant measuring indicator - air quality index (AQI) - was 74, falling under the ‘satisfactory’ category. The cleanest air day was recorded on April 18, when AQI levels fell to 71 (satisfactory).

Air quality is likely to get better on Friday, with a predicted AQI of 73.

SAFAR categorises AQI levels for PM2.5 in the 0-50 range as good; 51-100 as satisfactory; 101-200 as moderate; 201-300 as poor; 301-400 as very poor and above 400 as severe.

Nine out of 10 locations recorded ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ air quality in the city. However, Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) was the most polluted with ‘very poor’ AQI of 301. Researchers from SAFAR said they needed to check specific issues for BKC’s pollution level, but attributed bad air quality to traffic congestion close to the monitoring site.

The cleanest air in the city was recorded at Colaba and Worli, with AQI of 25 and 29, respectively, falling under the ‘good’ category.

“Westerly winds or sea breeze has been setting in at the right time allowing a rise in sea breeze over the past three days. Temperatures are near the normal mark owing to partly cloudy conditions during the day and cool breeze from afternoon,” an official from India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The night temperature in south Mumbai was almost 2 degrees below normal at 24.8 degrees Celsius, while the suburbs recorded a minimum temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, 0.6 degrees below normal. The maximum temperature in south Mumbai was 33.5 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degree below normal, and 33 degrees Celsius in the suburbs, 0.6 degrees below normal.

Moisture levels were low with 68% humidity at Colaba and 55% humidity at Santacruz.

The city could expect a partly cloudy sky with day and night temperatures at 33 and 26 degrees Celsius on Friday.