Mumbai's air quality worsened this winter season than last year: Report

Mumbai: City's air pollution this winter season was significantly worse than that of the last season, stated a report. Citing data of the Central Pollution Control Board, the report stated that Mumbai since November 2022 had witnessed at least 36 days with 'poor' AQI which hinted at sharp uptick in the concentration of airborne pollutants.

A report in the Hindustan Times citing the data said that Mumbai has not seen 'satisfactory' air quality day since October 22 last year and that the city's lowest value of AQI was 117 on December 17, 2022.

Citing data, the report said that average daily measure of PM10 between January 10 to 17 last year was 118ug/m3 which increased to 177ug/m3 between same time this year. The average daily measure of PM2.5 shot up from 68ug/m3 last season to 108ug/m3 this year.

The report also quoted Gufran Beig, Project director at SAFAR, saying that current winter season in Mumbai is possibly the most polluted in the last four to five years. He said that the current pollution cycle is part of larger meterological phenomenon needing further study.

Beig said that the cold ocean temperature in Equatorial Pacific have prevailed for third consecutive year and is expected to become prominent in near future due to climate change which led to calm winds around the MMR and negligible dispersal of pollutants.

He further added that it is likely that the increase is also because of emissions at source including vehicles and construction work apart from meterology. He added that the city used to see a reversal of wind directions at least three to four days but over the past few years this has been happening once a fortnight which has affected the ability of the city to clean its air.

Additionally, the winds have been blowing majorly from North India, the import of transboundary dust has also worsened situation in the city.