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As AQI deteriorates in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma’s wife Ritika Sajdeh expresses concern: ‘What is happening?’

Several parts of Mumbai were covered in a thick haze on Tuesday amid complaints of worsening air pollution in the city of late.

3 min readNew DelhiNov 26, 2025 12:34 PM IST

Ritika Sajdeh, the wife of Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, expressed her concern on Instagram, sharing screenshots of air quality readings from the city (Image source: @ritssajdeh/Instagram)

Even as air pollution continued to worsen in Delhi, the Air Quality Index in Mumbai too has deteriorated over the past few days, leaving several parts of the city covered in a thick haze by Tuesday. Ritika Sajdeh, the wife of Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, expressed her concern over the situation on Instagram, while sharing screenshots of air quality readings from the city.

One screenshot displayed an AQI of 227 in Mumbai with PM2.5 at 152. She also added a mask emoji and a heartbreak emoji. The AQI scale categorises air quality as good (0–50), satisfactory (51–100), moderately polluted (101–200), poor (201–300), very poor (301–400), and severe (401–500).

In another Instagram story, she posted, “What is happening,” alongside an image of Mumbai blanketed in haze with the on-screen text “AQI: 257”.

See here:

Ritika Sajdeh’s Instagram story (Screengrab)

Reacting to the AQI in Mumbai, an X user shared that his colleagues have suddenly fallen sick. “It is very very bad. Almost Everyone in office down with sore throat/fever/allergy. November-January used to be the best time to be in Mumbai 5 years back. It is the worst now. I understand that this is the price we pay for development and infra, but surely we could find a solution if we wanted to. No coastal city should have a 250-300 aqi,” the user wrote.

It is very very bad

Almost Everyone in office down with sore throat/fever/allergy

November-January used to be the best time to be in Mumbai 5 years back. It is the worst now

I understand that this is the price we pay for development and infra, but surely we could find a… https://t.co/pjrvIbdyw8

— Arindam Paul (@arindam___paul) November 25, 2025

Meanwhile, a volcanic eruption in Ethiopia on November 23 led to multiple flight disruptions in Delhi. The eruption came from Hayli Gubbi, a dormant volcano that emitted ash several kilometres into the atmosphere, its first eruption in thousands of years. The massive plumes of ash travelled across the Red Sea, passing over Oman and Yemen before reaching Delhi.

Also Read | Top 10 Indian cities with worst and best AQI in 2025: Delhi remains stagnant at ‘very poor’, ‘severe’ in Hapur

Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory for the affected airspaces. The ash cloud, moving at 100–120 kmph at altitudes between 15,000 and 45,000 feet, contained volcanic ash, sulphur dioxide, and tiny fragments of rock and glass.

As a result, several flights in India were cancelled, delayed, or diverted. Although experts noted that the scale of ash contamination remains unclear, they emphasised that it is unlikely to affect air quality on the ground in the impacted regions.