MeT department says extremely bad air quality in city is due to low wind conditions and cloud cover that have trapped dust particles in the air
Thick smog is seen at Wadala today. The air quality in the city has been at an all-time low in the past few weeks. PIC/Atul Kamble
The city has been waking up to a thick smog and warmer weather for the past few weeks. But, the weather bureau has said winter is not over yet and Mumbai is likely to see a dip in temperatures by at least 2 to 4 degrees in the next few days. The smog is thanks to the accumulated clouds that have gathered due to a change in flow of air at one of the highest levels of airflow or Jet Air. This has trapped dust particles in the air under it.
However, there is a change now in the airflow, which will push the clouds eastwards and clear the air. There is the possibility of a few drizzles and some parts of Maharashtra, like Kolhapur, Satara and Parbhani have already seen rain spells in the past two days.The phenomenon is because of the cross-horizontal band of clouds that has formed over Maharashtra and is right now covering Konkan, Goa, Central and Western Maharashtra.
Deputy Director of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Krishnanand Hosalikar said, "Over the last two days we have been seeing a cloudy sky and haze and have recorded a rise in temperature from 17to 20-21 degrees. The current forecast is that this rise in temperature in Mumbai as well as interiors of Maharashtra is going to lower again by 2-4 points. This morning, the temperature in Mumbai was already lower than yesterday." He explained, "There was not much sunlight reaching the city in the past 2-3 days but it has slightly improved now and is going to improve further in the coming days."
