Sudden spike in air pollution, may worsen further: SAFAR

The city’s air quality deteriorated on Sunday with a sudden spike in pollutant measuring indicator. Air quality index (AQI) for PM2.5 — breathable particulate matter

The city’s air quality deteriorated on Sunday with a sudden spike in pollutant measuring indicator. Air quality index (AQI) for PM2.5 — breathable particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less in size — increased from 55 on Saturday to 90 on Sunday, both falling under the ‘satisfactory’ category. AQI for PM10 (larger coarser particles) shot up from 62 to 96 during the same time, according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). City’s AQI levels had not crossed 65 from April 8 to May 16.

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SAFAR categorises AQI for pollutants 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.

“A moderate dust storm that originated in Afghanistan is beginning to sweep past Rajasthan and western parts of India. We expect pollution levels to rise, especially for PM10, over the next two to three days unless these areas receive rainfall,” said Gufran Beig, director, SAFAR.

Researchers said pollution levels are expected to increase further on Monday with AQI for PM2.5 likely to be 121 and for PM10 105, both falling in the ‘moderate’ category.

Among the 10 monitoring stations in the city, Andheri had the worst air at 188 for PM2.5, followed by Bhandup at 139 and Colaba at 115, all under the ‘moderate’ category. The concentration for PM10 was 138 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) against the safe limit of 100 μg/m³ for 24 hours. PM2.5 levels were 60 μg/m³, which was at the 24-hour safe limit.