Pollution — Not Love — Is In Mumbai's Air This Valentine's; City Named World's 2nd Most Polluted Last Week

Despite the summer approaching the city with all the subtlety of a raging bull, Mumbai's air quality is yet to take a turn for the better. As per SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research), Mumbai's AQI stood at 201 as of 12 PM today, putting it in the 'poor' category. The PM2.5 and PM10 levels stood at 91 and 180 units, respectively.

For context, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good"; 51 to 100 is "satisfactory", 101 to 200 is "moderate", 201 to 300 "poor", 301 to 400 "very poor", and 401 to 500 "severe".

The city's air quality index (AQI) has been fluctuating between 'poor' and 'very poor' for pretty much the entirety of February. In fact, Mumbai exceeded the pollution hotspot Delhi's AQI by a large margin a couple of times, like on February 11, when it recorded a ‘poor’ 283 compared to the national capital's ‘moderate’ 156.

But Mumbai hasn't just been shattering records in India. The Swiss air tracking index IQAir (a real-time international air quality monitor) indicated that the Maharashtra capital was the second most polluted city in the world in the week between January 29 and February 8.

On January 29, Mumbai was ranked 10th in IQAir rankings for the poorest spots. It climbed to the top on February 2 before sliding down in subsequent days and then climbing back again to second position on February 8. On February 13, it was the third most unhealthy city worldwide in terms of air quality.

IQAir partners with UNEP and Greenpeace, and uses India’s Central Pollution Control Board data (CPCB) to assess air quality. Categorisation into 'healthy', unhealthy' and 'hazardous' is as per US air quality index (AQI) standards, which are more stringent than those in India.

Causes and impacts of Mumbai’s toxic air quality

As for the reasons for this marked deterioration in the AQI, experts blame the dust and smoke constantly emanating from vehicles, roads and construction activities.

According to a 2020 study by NEERI and IIT-B, road or construction dust is the source of over 71% of the particulate matter load in Mumbai's air. The remaining comes from industrial and power units, airports, and garbage dumps.

Lowered wind speed across the west coast due to the La Nina effect, an abnormal drop in surface temperature on the Pacific Ocean, has also contributed by reducing the dispersal of pollutants.

Due to high pollution, Mumbai has been witnessing a noticeable surge in respiratory ailments. Two decades ago, cardiac surgeon Dr O H Jaiswal would occasionally spot black lung patches. Today, it's alarmingly common, he says. "During heart surgeries, we routinely encounter lungs visibly affected by air pollution — we often see black lungs or lungs with patches, even in non-smokers," Jaiswal told TOI.

Therefore, until the high pollution levels persist, Mumbaikars with health issues would do well to reduce prolonged or heavy exertion and avoid intense activities. Asthmatics must keep medicine ready if symptoms of coughing or shortness of breath occur. Heart patients are advised to see a doctor in case of palpitations, shortness of breath, or unusual fatigue.

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