As the Bombay High Court (HC) slammed the local governing bodies of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai for not being able to control air pollution in Mumbai, the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) data shows that Mumbai has recorded the maximum number of days with unhealthy Air Quality Index (AQI) in 2026, so far, compared to the neighbouring regions of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Vasai-Virar in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The CPCB dashboard shows that AQI readings between 0 to 50 are regarded as good or safe, 51 to 100 are regarded as satisfactory, 101 to 200 are considered moderate, 201 to 300 are regarded as poor, 301 to 400 are termed very poor and above 400 are considered to be severe.
According to the CPCB data, Mumbai has recorded 18 days of unhealthy AQI this year between January 1 and 24.
The CPCB dashboard shows that during this period the AQI readings stayed between 120 and 150 which is in the moderate category and is categorised as unhealthy for sensitive groups especially the children and senior citizens.
Furthermore, the data also shows that during the 24-day period Mumbai, has recorded only six days of satisfactory AQI.
In comparison, Navi Mumbai recorded 15 days of unhealthy AQI and nine days of satisfactory AQI, this is followed by Vasai Virar which recorded 13 days of unhealthy AQI and 10 days of satisfactory air and Thane which followed 12 days of unhealthy AQI and 12 days of satisfactory reading. Mira Bhayander has recorded 13 days of unhealthy AQI and nine days of satisfactory AQI.
Emission levels and inadequate monitoring system in MMR
Meanwhile officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) have attributed the pollution load to man-made factors like vehicular emission, dust displacement and construction works.
Story continues below this ad
“Mumbai has the highest vehicular density compared to other regions in the MMR and vehicular emission has been identified as the main cause behind pollution in the city. In addition to this, Mumbai is also recording a significant series of construction work for various private and public projects. This particular factor has also contributed to the deteriorating AQI levels in the city,” said an official.
At present Mumbai has 28 AQI monitoring stations. In comparison Thane has two stations at Kasarvadavali and Upvan Fort, Navi Mumbai has six stations at Nerul, Mahape, Sanpada, Vashi, Kalamboli and Taloja. While Virar and Mira Bhayander has only one station each under their jurisdiction.
“Mumbai is also intensely monitored in comparison to the remaining regions in MMR. This is also a reason why the numbers are bad in Mumbai. In comparison the other areas like Thane or Bhayander are not showing dip in AQI levels on most of the days probably because they are not monitored intensely since the number of AQI monitoring stations that are there are not adequate in number,” an MPCB official said.
Meanwhile officials said that augmenting the AQI monitoring station is underway and three additional stations will be set up in each district of Thane, Vasai Virar and Kalyan-Dombivali.
Story continues below this ad
Two stations will be installed at the Mira-Bhayander, Ulhasnagar and Bhiwandi Nizampur areas. The officials said that each of these stations will cost Rs 9 crore.
“The work order for acquiring these stations have been issued and they will be supplied to us in a phased manner starting next month. Before winter, when the city’s AQI usually worsens, we will have more stations in place to monitor and identify areas which record poor AQI and will be able to mitigate them accordingly,” an official told the Indian Express.
“The plan of augmenting the number of monitoring stations is part of a larger project where we intend to install more than 50 monitoring stations across the entire state of Maharashtra,” the official added.
Climatoligal ‘disadvanatage’
For a city like Mumbai, which is very close to the Arabian Sea, recording poor AQI consistently is a rare occurrence, since coastal cities experienced quicker wind reversals – a phenomenon that clears the dust particles that remain accumulated in the lower atmosphere.
Story continues below this ad
However,atmospheric experts maintained that the geographical advantage of being close to the western coastline of the country has now turned out to be a disadvantage due to the global climate change phenomena.
“Due to the global climate change the process of air reversal has become very very slow and Mumbai’s proximity to the western coast also makes it vulnerable to the dust particles that are blown towards the mainland from the Thar desert and as well as the humid air coming towards the far eastern part of the globe from the middle east,” Dr. Gufran Beig, atmospheric scientist and chair professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) – Indian Institute of Sciences (IISC) told the Indian Express.
“The land and sea breeze can only disperse pollutants by a limited extent. We have to understand that besides getting surrounded by the sea, Mumbai is also surrounded by other satellite districts like Thane, Kalyan Dombivali which largely contributed to the emission due to the economic activities going on there. Besides these, the factors like vehicular emission and regional transport movement also play a role,” Dr. Sachida Nand Tripathi atmospheric scientist and Dean of Kotak School of sustainability – IIT Kanpur and member of the National Clean Air Programme’s (NCAP) steering committee said.
