Mumbai air is cleanest in three years

Since June Mumbairsquos air quality has been the cleanest in the past three years thanks to monsoon experts said on Friday The city has been recording the air quality index AQI level ranging between 10 and 35 almost daily since June On Friday Mumbai had the best AQI of 36 compared to Pune at 58 Ahmedabad at 50 and Delhi at 55The air quality will remain lsquoexcellentrsquo for a few more days according to the forecast of the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research SAFAR which has been monitoring the AQI since June 2015People enjoy the monsoon at Marine Drive on July 14 PicAshish RajeMumbairsquos AQI was 28 on June 14 and 10 one of the best on July 2 According to SAFAR Mumbai last recorded the best air quality on September 4 2019 at 12An AQI between 100 and 199 is considered lsquomoderatersquo 50 and 99 lsquosatisfactoryrsquo and below 50 lsquogoodrsquo Meanwhile an AQI over 200 is considered lsquopoorrsquo above 300 lsquovery poorrsquo above 400 lsquoseverersquo and above 500 lsquosevere plusrsquoThanks to monsoonExperts attributed the decline in air pollution levels to favourable weather circumstances such as the monsoon in Mumbai and strong landward winds However experts also said the trend of rapidly improving air quality for over a month shows a dip in localised pollutionSmoke from garbage burning dust construction work and pollution due to vehicular and industrial emissions mainly contribute to the pollution in Mumbai referred to as localised pollutionldquoIt is common knowledge that during monsoon air quality improves and gets better Although the combination of high moisture low wind speed and humidity during monsoon force the cityrsquos rising smoke and dust to hang in the air making the overall air quality very poor heavy sea breeze and consistent rainfall make the air cleanrdquo said Gufran Beig project director of SAFARTalking about the coming days Beig said ldquoIf the wind speed slows down in the next few days the air quality will start deteriorating againrdquoDetailing the improving AQI in the city and adjoining areas Beig said ldquoThe winds delivering air pollution from the oceanic side have a significant impact on Mumbairsquos air quality However some contributions could come from neighbouring island nations which are closer to the sea around Mumbai Even if Mumbairsquos pollution is low toxins transported from the surrounding region have an impact on its air quality However during this time of the year monsoon spreads massively horizontally and the upper air is relatively cleaner therefore no external air contaminants are injected into the city sky As a result the horizontal spread of the monsoon is negligible which has resulted in the best air quality in the past three yearsrdquoMumbai witnesses highest pollution levels in December and January and the lowest in September post the monsoon ldquoThe air quality is between good and satisfactory during June to Augustrdquo Beig saidldquoThe two dust storms that slammed Mumbairsquos shoreline in the last week of January and the first week of February rendered the air nearly unbreathable with the AQI reaching 500 the worst quality ever for humans to breathe A couple of days in late May the cityrsquos AQI touched between 250 and 300 which is poor However since June the air quality has improvedrdquo said an official from India Meteorological Department IMDSept 4Day air was last cleanest in 2019Air quality on Friday Bhandup 41 good Colaba 15 good Malad 59 satisfactory Mazgaon 25 good Worli 42 good Borivli 42 good BandraKurla Complex 38 good Chembur 39 good Andheri 57 satisfactory Navi Mumbai 50 satisfactory