MUMBAI: The city’s air quality deteriorated on Saturday, recording a 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 122, compared to 99 on Friday, as low wind speeds and temperature inversion continued to trap pollutants close to the surface, with more than half the locations of the 23 active monitoring stations across the city experiencing unhealthy air. The primary pollutant was PM10 (particulate matter of size less than 10/ugm3).
A senior BMC official attributed the deterioration to meteorological conditions, particularly low wind speeds and temperature inversion, which prevent pollutants from dispersing. As many as 15 stations recorded ‘moderate’ air quality while the remaining fell in the satisfactory category. An AQI between 1-50 is classified as good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is severe, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. “We are making efforts to ensure that the AQI remains within 100.
“As a result, pollutants remain trapped in the atmosphere, affecting air quality,” he said. Dr Gufran Beig, chair professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, said the changes in temperature were influencing the city’s air quality, with readings likely to be the same over the next two to three days. He said the current variation was seasonal and did not necessarily indicate sustained deterioration.
Meanwhile, temperatures across Mumbai remained above normal, but a significant departure from earlier in the week when the maximum temperature crossed 38 degrees Celsius and there was a heatwave on two days. The Colaba observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 34.2°C, one degree above normal, while Santacruz recorded 35.2°C, 1.5 degrees above normal. The minimum temperatures were 26.5°C and 26°C, respectively or 1.1°C and 1.7°C above normal. Earlier reporting noted: Delhi sees a rise in temperature, AQI slips to ‘moderate’; clear skies predicted Delhi’s minimum temperature rose to 20 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 0.4 degrees above normal, a day after the national capital recorded satisfactory air quality, which slipped to the moderate category. Earlier reporting noted: The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung weather station, Delhi’s base station, was 20 degrees Celsius, up 0.6 degrees from the previous day, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. Earlier reporting noted: Among other weather stations, the Ridge recorded a minimum temperature of 20.3 degrees Celsius, while Palam recorded 19.2 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature at Lodhi Road settled at 19.3 degrees Celsius, while Ayanagar recorded 19.1 degrees Celsius.
