Mumbai’s air quality improved, from ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ – due to the recent unseasonal rains, which settled pollutants.
However, experts expect this to change once the skies clear.
Mumbai recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 166 (moderate) on Saturday, which was lower than most days in the past four months.
The recent rainfalls helped clear the air by washing away most of the common air pollutants through a process called wet deposition.
For context, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 is ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’. Mumbai has been recording ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ air quality, with some days being even worse than Delhi and other major cities.
Experts blame vehicular pollution and construction work for the deteriorating air quality.
Thackeray wrote a letter to Bhupinder Yadav
Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday wrote a letter to Union Minister Bhupinder Yadav over the issue of poor air quality in Mumbai and increasing air pollution across Maharashtra.
“I’ve written to Union Minister Bhupinder Yadav-ji about Maharashtra’s worsening air pollution crisis, also focusing on Mumbai’s AQI. The absence of a full-time environment minister and a lack of sensitivity towards public issues in the state’s illegal government have worsened this crisis, as there is no action on the ground,” he wrote in a tweet.
“Climate change has had a serious impact on the city’s weather patterns, changing the speed and direction of winds, and causing polluted air to remain within the city instead of flowing towards the coast. I request that you direct the relevant authorities to install mobile sensors across the city, as the existing sensors do not cover the entire city. This would provide more insights for addressing the air quality problem and help reconcile the data authenticity of the AQI currently measured,” the letter said.
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