MUMBAI: The city's air turned more toxic after firecrackers were lit Friday night. A humid and non-windy day caused smoke and dust to remain suspended in the air, resulting in smog.
The previous night when some lit firecrackers, the city's AQI - the index for air quality, where 0-50 is good-had gone from poor (200-300) to severe (300-400), reports Chittaranjan Tembhekar.
Around 9pm Friday, poor AQI was recorded at Byculla (204), Deonar (204), Kandivli West (268), Malad West (290), Mindspace Malad (252), and Sewri (296; deteriorated to severe around 10pm), shows Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. All places had shown satisfactory (50-100) to non-satisfactory (100-200) levels before 6pm. AQI was on the higher side of the non-satisfactory range post-celebrations at BKC (192), Chembur (162), Kherwadi (198), Mulund West (158), Navy Nagar (171), and Worli (161), the data showed.
"Mumbai experienced a notable increase in air pollution Thursday, with PM2.5[fine particulate mattes that can penetrate deep into lung passageways] levels rising by 38% and PM10 [coarser particles] levels by 23% compared to the previous day... The city's average PM2.5 levels reached 79 micrograms/cubic meter) on Diwali, surpassing the recommended limit of 60, whereas on the previous day, the levels were just below this threshold at 57 ," said an analysis by Respirer Living Sciences, a tech platform that monitors and analyses air pollution.
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