Mumbai's air quality near 'very poor' as temperature dips and wind slows

MUMBAI: The city's air quality worsened Sunday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) touching 293-poor and close to the 301-400 'very poor' level that can trigger respiratory problems.
Last week, it ranged between 232 and 270, and had even dropped to moderate levels in between. "Mumbai's AQI indicates 'poor', and it's likely to remain 'poor' for the next two days," said a SAFAR bulletin.
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Experts attribute the drop in AQI on Sunday to mainly the drop in temperature and low speed of fresh westerly winds from the sea which has resulted in pollutants (vehicle and industrial smoke, garbage dump fires and dust) hanging in lower atmosphere.
City sees its most polluted days between November and February
Mumbai witnesses its most polluted days in winter between November and February. According to Gufran Beig of SAFAR, the last week of November and first week of December this year saw the most polluted days, with AQI higher than the past three-four years.
In the second week of November, Mumbai had recorded higher AQI than Delhi, which is one of the worst polluted cities in the world. Meanwhile, Delhi recorded an AQI of 372 on Sunday.
AQI is a concentration of carcinogenic 2.5 particulate matter (pm) in air. An AQI in the range of 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'. On the other hand, AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory' and 101-200 'moderate'.
It may be recalled that in February this year, the city had recorded its worst AQI at 490 due to a dust storm. Post-Diwali this year, the AQI had reached a very poor level of 320 mark.