Are dust storms worsening Mumbai's air pollution levels?

For three days in a row Mumbai has been witnessing very high pollution levels with Air Quality Index readings mostly above 300 almost matching Delhis with some places recording an AQI of even 400 plusAnd if the experts are to be believed the two backtoback dust storms induced worst air quality may continue to be so for two more days That is if Mumbai and western coast are not hit by a thirdSince Sunday Mumbais AQI has hovered above 300 very poor as per meteorological classification in India with even Tuesday morning recording 320 the Ministry of Earth Sciences System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research SAFAR forecast and advisory saidBut it is not just Mumbai The western part of India parts of coastal Maharashtra north of Mumbai large parts of Gujarat including capital Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad have been experiencing a peculiar air quality this winterIt is very unusual During the last 15 days there has been a second successive dust storm which originated in the border areas of Rajasthan Pakistan and some even to the extent of Afghanistan It coincided with the Western Disturbances so an upper air trough was formed That elevated system entered somewhere near Ahmedabad said SAFAR founder Director Gufran BeigThe air quality in Mumbai and Ahmedabad which normally remains moderate or average in this season continued to remain very poor till Monday because of calm wind conditions and colderlesser temperatures he saidAlthough the second dust storm related intrusion stopped three days ago due to moist conditions and relatively cooler temperature in Mumbai fine particles which were trapped due to the storm are hanging and not being dispersed as air is still heavy Beig said explaining why Mumbais AQI is still very poor It will steadily but slowly start to improve as it gets warmer in coming daysBut there is a rider This will happen in two days provided a third dust cluster does not get formed from the Thar desert as that area is now heating up even when north and east India are again going to be under the influence of Westerly Disturbances leading to coolingoff followed by rains in Delhi he warnedIf that happens local Mumbai wind speed may increase and likely sweep dust away faster he saidThis phenomenon however has alarmed the scientific fraternityWe have started looking into the cause of these successive wind and dust storms coming from the West when the air is very heavy here as we suspect that this may be an impact of climate change It cannot be denied that there are some unusual activities happening and all over the world scientists have started looking into this and we have started too the scientist said adding Of course there is a lot of microlevel work in air quality modelling and pathway analysis needs to be done But we cannot deny the role of climate changeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever