Air quality dips to ‘poor’ category
Pollution levels drop to 293 on Sunday; city is also seeing a rise in chronic infections
MUMBAI: City’s air quality on Sunday dipped to ‘poor’ category with an air quality index (AQI) value of 293. Experts have attributed the pollution levels to prevailing meteorological conditions and also predicted that the city will see ‘poor’ AQI on and off till January.
According to the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) network of monitoring stations, AQI in excess of 200 is considered ‘poor’, and above 300 ‘very poor’.
SAFAR has predicted AQI levels to remain poor at 283 on Monday as well. For most of the last few weeks, air quality remained in the ‘poor’ category affecting the health of many Mumbaiites, especially vulnerable groups such as children and senior citizens. The poor air quality is also leading to chronic infections and allergies getting much worse, city doctors said. Senior scientist and founder project director of SAFAR, Gufran Beig, said this is the first time that the air quality in Mumbai is changing so rapidly. “Poor air quality levels are connected to Enso-related stagnation conditions. It’s mainly a weather phenomenon that normally cleans up emissions from Mumbai. But this year, there’s a reversal in its role,” said Beig.
ENSO – El-nino Southern Oscillation – is an abnormal warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that disrupts global atmospheric circulation, which, in turn, influences temperature and precipitation across the globe. One theory for this condition is the rate of changes in large-scale circulation globally under climate change scenarios. “Frequent extreme weather and pollution events are increasing. There are more dust storms in the winter months of January and February. Local winds are slowing down, and so are winds flowing from the sea to land that clears up pollution. All this points to climate change. But more research needs to be undertaken to establish causation,” said Beig. In the last month, those with chronic breathing problems and allergies have been coming into the OPD more frequently, said Dr Deepak Baid, former president of the Association of Medical Consultants. “There is a definite rise in the number of people coming in with coughs and colds, with no fever or other symptoms of viral infections. However, poor air quality can’t be attributed directly to this, it has a role to play,” he said.