Mumbai’s air worse than Delhi third time this year
The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to 304 on Sunday and remained in the ‘red’ or ‘very poor' category. Delhi, meanwhile, recorded an AQI of 83 (satisfactory).
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This is the second consecutive day that Mumbai’s AQI was red. On Saturday, the AQI of Mumbai was 302. (Express Photo by Ashish Kale)For the third time this year, Mumbai’s air quality was worse than Delhi’s.
The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to 304 on Sunday and remained in the ‘red’ or ‘very poor’ category. Delhi, meanwhile, recorded an AQI of 83 (satisfactory). This is the second consecutive day that Mumbai’s AQI was red. On Saturday, the AQI of Mumbai was 302.
On Sunday, Mazgaon was the most polluted area as the AQI rose to 354. Similarly, Malad in western suburbs recorded AQI at 337 (very poor), Chembur (311) and Worli (306).
The System of Air Quality Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said the city’s air quality will slightly improve to the ‘poor’ category — AQI between 201 and 300 — on Monday.
Experts have attributed the rise in pollution to the third dust storm originating in Afghanistan and the Thar region of Pakistan. Slow wind speed in the city also added to the pollutants accumulating close to the land.
SAFAR experts said the pollution is likely to subside by Tuesday. “Now as predicted yesterday, Ahmedabad is limping back to normal but Mumbai will experience poor air at least until tomorrow and then will quickly be back to moderate (air quality). The dust is getting blocked by the southern slopes of the Sahyadri mountain range in Maharashtra. So, further spread is unlikely,” said Gufran Beig, founding director, SAFAR.
As per the 24-hour air quality forecast issued by SAFAR, the AQI in Mumbai on Monday (February 28) is likely to be 300.
Meanwhile, the day or maximum temperature was a degree above normal in the city at 33.1 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature was normal at 19.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
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