An air quality index (AQI) of 132 (‘moderately polluted’) is predicted for the next two days, largely owing to the ongoing infrastructure and construction activities in the city.
At this AQI, health effects can be immediately felt by sensitive groups, while healthy individuals may experience difficulty in breathing and throat irritation with prolonged exposure. Outdoor activities should be kept to the minimum, weather experts have advised.
According to the director of the NGO Vanashakti, Stalin D, “Mumbai’s main pollutant is dust. Friday’s temperature was lower than three days ago.
As temperatures drop, air doesn’t rise to the levels it needs to and moreover, we have endless construction going on in the city whether it is roads or buildings.
None of these sites follow the norms, such as - there should be sprinklers wherever dust is spreading, to curb the rise in air pollution. Also, as the foliage of the lower branches of the trees has been chopped, there is nothing left to hold back the dust, which remains in circulation and causes hazardous conditions for health. We have more respiratory illnesses, throat and eye irritation, breathlessness and much more.
The ill effects of air pollution are too many to be ignored. Low air quality not only affects humans but plants and animals too. The process of photosynthesis in plants is severely hampered by the dust settling on its leaves.” “If air pollution is getting worse due to natural conditions, then at the very least, these manmade conditions can be avoided, by setting up sprinklers and providing proper tree cover,” Stalin pointed out.
IMD official K S Hosalikar said, “There could be several reasons for bad air quality - like a natural calamity or a fire incident or temperature fluctuations - but for Mumbai, the most common cause is the constant construction of buildings and lots of infrastructure coming up, population increase, traffic movement which causes dust and vehicles causing pollution.
So, with all of these reasons combined, the air quality keeps fluctuating constantly in the city.” The city’s AQI is 19 points lower than Delhi’s, which stands at a ‘very unhealthy’ category of 151. As per records, Mumbai witnesses high pollution levels in December and January and the lowest air pollution levels are recorded post-monsoon, in September. For Pune, the AQI indicated ‘moderate’ air quality on Friday and was likely to be the same for the next two days.
As for Ahmedabad in neighbouring Gujarat, the AQI on Friday indicated ‘lower end of moderate’ and for the next two days, was likely to be ‘moderate’ or ‘upper end of satisfactory’.
Mumbai broke the record for worst air quality on Jan 23, 2022 with AQI crossing 500-mark, highest-ever indicator set for measuring 2.5 PM (particulate matter) concentration in the air due to the storm from Balochistan, coupled with moisture and local emissions.
