Air quality drops to very poor category in Mumbai for first time this year – Hindustan Times

The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city rose slightly as the year drew to an end on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the air quality in and around Mumbai deteriorated from ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ on Thursday for the first time in 2020. Experts attributed the very poor quality of air to the inflow of air from the land (continental air) instead of that from the sea.

An overall air quality index (AQI)—a pollutant measuring indicator – of 307 (very poor) was recorded. The AQI was calculated by the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) as the average of indices recorded at 10 locations in the city and suburbs.

SAFAR categorises AQI levels for PM2.5 in the 0-50 range as good; 51-100 as satisfactory; 101-200 as moderate; 201-300 as poor; 301-400 as very poor and above 400 as severe.

Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) had the worst AQI (363) among all the 10 locations, followed by Navi Mumbai and Mazagaon where an AQI of 349 and 342 was measured.

“AQI in Mumbai will continue to remain in the poor category due to the inflow of continental air with low ventilation and slow dispersion of accumulated pollution, mainly from biomass burning areas of Mumbai, owing to favourable wind direction,” said a spokesperson from SAFAR.

Meanwhile, the Colaba station of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), which represents south Mumbai, recorded a maximum temperature of 32 degrees Celsius, which was 1.3 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature rose to 20 degrees Celsius, which was 0.2 degrees Celsius above normal and 3 degrees above the lowest temperature of the season recorded on Tuesday.

The Santacruz station, representative of Mumbai and the suburbs, recorded a maximum temperature of 34 degrees Celsius, which was 2.7 degrees above normal. Minimum temperatures also rose significantly on Thursday, with the mercury touching 18.5 degrees Celsius, a 1.1 degree rise above normal. This was 3.5 degrees above the lowest minimum temperature of the season (15 degrees Celsius) recorded on Tuesday. In 2020, the lowest recorded temperature was 16.4 degrees, while in 2018, it was 14.4 degrees Celsius.

“The rise in temperatures is mostly due to the southeasterly winds over northwest and central India,” KS Hosalikar, deputy director general of western region, IMD.