Breathe hard: Mumbai's air quality dips to 'poor'

Even though the city experienced a cloudy weather on Monday, the weathermen have predicted a warm week ahead. Also, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city was recorded as 'poor' on Monday.

Weather observers said that the weather was cloudy due to the confluence of winds. Areas like Pune, Mahabaleshwar and the Konkan region would see thunderstorm activity accompanied by rains. Mumbai is likely to witness similar conditions on Tuesday as well.

The maximum temperature recorded was 34.2 degree Celsius.

On Monday the overall AQI of Mumbai was 213 as per System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) which monitors AQI at 10 stations in the city. However, the PM2.5 AQI of four out of 10 locations was above 300.

Meanwhile, the overall PM2.5 count for the city was 112 microgram per cubic metre (µg/m3) which comes under 'poor' category which is double the permissible limits as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which is 60 µg/m3 for 24 hours.

Officials from SAFAR blamed the poor air quality in the city on cloudy weather as well as the increased moisture levels in the city. "The PM pollutants suspended in the air get trapped in the moisture, creating a blanket of haze in several areas with high PM2.5 level," he said.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

The air quality was recorded the worst in Andheri at 361 followed by Mazgaon (358), Malad (305) and Borivali (304) on Monday.