Mumbai: Mumbai residents woke up to what appeared to be an ideal winter morning on Monday, with clear blue skies, cool temperatures and light winds offering a welcome break from the city’s usual humidity.
The pleasant start, however, proved to be short-lived as a thin layer of smog soon engulfed several parts of the city, sharply reducing visibility and once again drawing attention to Mumbai’s worsening air quality.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast generally comfortable weather conditions for the day, with minimum temperatures hovering around 20°C and maximum temperatures expected to touch 32°C. While the temperature range remained favourable, deteriorating air quality quickly overshadowed the brief spell of winter-like comfort.
Citywide AQI Recorded Unhealthy
According to data from air quality monitoring platform AQI.in, Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 264 during the early hours of the day. This placed the city in the ‘unhealthy’ category. The sharp rise in pollution levels has raised concerns, especially since Mumbai had experienced relatively improved air quality for a few days last week, offering residents some temporary relief.
Dust and fine particulate matter are seen as the primary contributors to the worsening air conditions. Extensive construction activity across the city continues to be a major source of pollution. Large-scale infrastructure projects, including multiple metro rail corridors, flyover construction, coastal road work, road widening initiatives and numerous private real estate developments, are majorly increasing dust levels and adding to Mumbai’s pollution burden.
Details On AQI Recorded Citywide
Several areas emerged as major pollution hotspots, recording alarmingly high AQI levels. Chembur reported an AQI of 345, placing it in the ‘severe’ category and posing serious health risks even for healthy individuals. Other areas such as the Wadala Truck Terminal and Deonar followed closely, with AQI readings of 335 and 322 respectively. In the western suburbs, Versova recorded an AQI of 325, while Juhu reported 312, both indicating severe air pollution.
Some suburban areas fared slightly better, though air quality remained far from ideal. Bandra East recorded an AQI of 103, and Charkop stood at 113, categorised as ‘poor’. Jogeshwari East reported an AQI of 130, Kandivali East 137, and Govandi 170, suggesting that unhealthy air conditions persist across many residential areas.
As per standard air quality classifications, AQI values between 0 and 50 are considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘moderate’, 101 to 200 ‘poor’, 201 to 300 ‘unhealthy’, and levels above 300 are classified as ‘severe’ or ‘hazardous’.
To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/
