Mumbai: For the fourth consecutive day, Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city fell under the category of ‘satisfactory’, as Sunday recorded AQI of 74. Officials from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said in the coming week AQI of the city will hover around 65-80 due to which Mumbaikars will breathe good air. Senior officials from SAFAR have attributed the good air quality to the increase in the temperature and the early setting in of sea breeze due to which particles do not remain in the air for long.
“The westerly winds have led to the clearing of pollutants in the air. The sea breeze is settling in at the right time due to which the particulate matters are not being suspended in the air,” said Gufran Beig, project director, SAFAR. On Sunday, the overall PM10 levels, pollutants arising from dust, were recorded at 62 (satisfactory) while the PM2.5 levels arising from vehicular and industrial emissions, were recorded at 32 (satisfactory). Seven out of nine locations recorded good air quality including Borivli, Malad, Bhandup, Chembur, Worli and Mazgaon. Bandra Kurla Complex recorded a poor level of AQI at 304.
According to the experts, the sudden improvement in the air which is good since many days the city has been reeling under poor air. So far May has recorded good air quality index for this year. Meanwhile, temperatures across the city were near normal, with the Santacruz observatory recording a maximum temperature of 33.1 degrees Celsius and the Colaba observatory recording 32.6 degrees Celsius. “Westerly winds or sea breeze have been setting in at the right time over the past three days. Temperatures are near the normal mark owing to partly cloudy conditions during the day and cool breeze during afternoons,” said an official from the Indian Meteorological Department.
