Mumbai: Brace for more bad air days

Mumbaikars are likely to breathe polluted air for some more days this winter and many more to come thanks to climate change warned experts and researchers They have cautioned on the basis of statistics from this year and the past ldquoThere is unusually calm wind across Mumbai and surrounding regions This has prevented the swift dispersion of air pollutants even though Mumbai is surrounded by the oceanrdquo said Dr Gufran Beig founder of SAFARBetween November 1 and December 10 the AQI in Mumbai was lsquopoorrsquo on 18 days and very poor on four days mdash on December 5 6 7 and 8 However last year during the same 40day period the AQI was poor on six days and there was not a single day with AQI in the very poor categoryThick smog envelops the city as fishing boats are anchored in the sea in Mahim on December 7 Mumbairsquos air quality was between poor and very poor range last week PicShadab KhanBetween the same period in 2021 the fine particulate matter PM25 was within the permissible limit on 18 days but only one this year Even on Monday Mumbairsquos overall AQI was 225 poor On December 9 Mumbai 308 logged AQI worse than that of Delhi 259The only relief will be from the Cyclone Mandous aftermath and the likelihood of the wind speed picking upAlso read ldquoPeople with no lung disorders also at riskrdquo say health experts on Mumbairsquos rising air pollutionClimate changeDr Gufran Beig founder and project director System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research SAFAR said ldquoOwing to the phenomenon of La Nina cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific India has been experiencing and will continue to experience unusually cold and extended winter Moreover the warming of the Mediterranean Sea influences the weather in western India As a result there is unusually calm wind across Mumbai and surrounding regions This has prevented the swift dispersion of air pollutants even though Mumbai is surrounded by the oceanrdquo He cautioned ldquoThese changes can be associated with the impacts of climate change and such high pollution events are only expected to increase in Mumbai in the coming yearsrdquoThe reasonSAFARrsquos analysis of the prevailing poor air quality shows that the emission levels from industries may not be the sole factor he said ldquoThe visibility across Mumbai took a hit during November and December This means both fine PM25 and coarse PM10 particulate matter were high in Mumbai Our data also validates that If industries or refineries were the major sources of air pollution then only PM25 would have been high Thus it is construction dust part of residential emissions which has increased PM25 and PM10 worsening Mumbairsquos air qualityrdquo Dr Beig added As per SAFAR the transport sector accounts for 3037 of the cityrsquos pollution industries 1837 biofuel or residential emissions 2037 windblown dust 1537 and weatherrelated factors including sea salt 1737What experts sayAnjal Prakash research director and adjunct associate professor Indian School of Business and lead IPCC author said ldquoMumbairsquos air quality has dipped to unhealthy levelsbecause of prevailing El Nino Southern Oscillation ENSO Scientists believe and also the last IPCC report clearly confirmed that global warming and climate change are accelerating such rapidly changing environmental conditions This is evident in sudden and prolonged deterioration of air quality Public health advisory is a shortterm solution but there is a need for longterm solutions like the airshed approachrdquoDr Harshal Ramesh Salve additional professor Centre for Community Medicine AIIMS said ldquoA few quick fixes for prolonged air pollution are public health advisories N95 masks and putting out open fires Chronic exposure to poor air quality worsens preexisting disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease asthma and cardiovascular diseasesthere is also clear evidence of the association between premature mortality and air pollutionrdquoBhagwan Kesbhat founder of Waatavaran said ldquoTo protect Mumbai residentsrsquo health the Maharashtra government and the municipal authorities must develop a Graded Response Action Plan GRAP for Mumbai which can be used whenever the air quality hits a certain threshold There is also a need for health advisories Sectors including construction rapidly expanding uncontrolled private vehicles and industrial emissions require regulationrdquoSumaira Abdulali convenor Awaaz Foundation said ldquoOne of the primary roles of BMC is to safeguard Mumbaikarsrsquo health Despite writing to the BMC in February to issue health advisories as had been done for COVID19 the BMC has failed the people of this city Health advisories will help Mumbaikars take action on a personal or institutional levelrdquo18No of days with poor AQI this winter06No of days with poor AQI last winter225Air quality index of Mumbai overall on Monday