Mumbai Air Quality Plunges With Fresh Smoke, Delhi Fares Better

A second big blaze in Mumbai has increased the pollution levels drastically.

A file photo of a smoggy day in Delhi. (Photo: Reuters)

Air quality of several Mumbai areas oscillated between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’, on Monday, against the backdrop of Deonar dumping ground fire, while in Delhi it was ‘good’ due to favourable weather conditions.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the average level of fine respirable pollutants PM 2.5 fell in the ‘poor’ category in Mumbai as opposed to Delhi where it was recorded as ‘good’.

Even in terms of air quality index (AQI), Delhi fared better than Mumbai when checked around 6 pm. AQI of the SAFAR’s Delhi monitoring stations was moderate while two stations in Mumbai had ‘very poor’ AQI and four had ‘poor’.

Air pollution in several parts of Delhi is at a critically high level. (Photo: Reuters)

An AQI of 301- 400 is considered very poor, it could lead to respiratory illness.

AQI between 201-300 is poor, it can cause breathing discomfort.

Fresh smoke was witnessed on Monday morning at the Deonar dumping ground, where the fire which has been raging for three days now intensified last evening even as people living in the vicinity complained of discomfort due to the fumes emanating from the site.

Areas close to Deonar, such as Chembur, had air quality in the very poor category. Chembur and BKC stations of SAFAR recorded AQI of 301 and 309 respectively.

This is the second big blaze in the area in less than two months.

A massive fire had broken out at the dumping yard, spread over 326 acres, on 27 January, leading to a thick blanket of smog in various parts of Mumbai.