The conditions are result of several factors including low temperature - due to the sudden heavy rains, low wind speed, retreating monsoon and heavy emission of pollutants in the air.
The island city started witnessing its encounter with smog, with suburban Mumbai and parts of Navi Mumbai and Thane engulfed with a thick hazy layer, since Saturday.
A thick blanket of smog that has descended since Saturday continued its covering the city even on Tuesday morning. Smog conditions have drastically reduced visibility in and around the financial capital and has also led to breathing problems among several citizens.
According to the experts at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the conditions are result of several factors including low temperature - due to the sudden heavy rains, low wind speed, retreating monsoon and heavy emission of pollutants in the air.
"Monsoon has started retreating from Maharashtra. The sky has been dusky and thick since a couple of days mostly due to the temperature and poor winds," Deputy Director General of IMD (Mumbai) KS Hosalikar told Iamin on phone. He added that, normally the haze-like condition sets in the city by end of November and not the first-week of October.
A senior scientist at IMD said that, the visibility has also taken a hit in the city. As per count the visibility index in the morning (between 6.00 am and 10.00 am) has been around 1,800 metres to 2,000 metres, which around sunset is ranged at 3,800 metres to 4,000 metres instead of the usual 5,000 metres.
Meanwhile, the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) charts displayed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) on their website read, that on October 1, 2015 the AQI in the city was 175 (potent to cause breathing discomfort to people on prolonged exposure). The readings two days prior to the onset of October also range at 132 on September 30 and 29.
In the past five days the AQI around the city has been measured between 80 to 99 (potent to cause minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people).
As per a senior MPCB official, as the monsoon petered out the pollution level in the air surrounding the city has spiked leading to the escalated AQI reading. "To add to this is the count of the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) which, above 100 microgram in 1 cubic metre of air is extremely bad for health," the official explained.
Experts from both IMD and MPCB claimed that, the pattern is likely to continue for next couple of weeks.
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