Chembur’s air bounces back after Diwali as AQI falls from 208 To 164
Chembur’s air is breathing easier after the Diwali smoke. The neighbourhood’s air quality index fell from 208 on Monday, in the poor band, to 164 on Wednesday, which is back in the moderate category, according to monitoring data reported by Hindustan Times.
Chembur was among the worst-hit areas when firecrackers pushed parts of Mumbai close to the “very poor” mark between Sunday evening and Monday, along with BKC, Kherwadi, Navy Nagar and Shivaji Nagar. PM2.5 was the main pollutant.
Across the city, the 24-hour average AQI settled at 138 on Wednesday. Twenty-three of Mumbai’s 25 working monitors recorded moderate, satisfactory or good air. Only Navy Nagar (206) and Malad West (207) stayed in the poor category. Nearby, BKC dropped from 240 to 182 and Kherwadi from 266 to 126.
Dr Gufran Beig, chair professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, said stronger winds should keep Mumbai’s AQI between 120 and 180 over the next few days, with no big improvement or slide expected. He added that haze is still trapped close to the ground because surface winds are weak.
It will stay hot and dry, too. The IMD forecasts clear skies with temperatures touching 37°C on Thursday and Friday, easing to 35°C on Saturday and 34°C on Sunday.
The festival nights also kept the police busy: since Diwali, the Mumbai Police control room has received more than 3,500 calls about firecracker and reveller nuisance, with teams from all 96 police stations responding.