On Wednesday, December 16, as the rains exited Mumbai, the skies of the city were filled with haze resulting in low visibility.
As per reports, the Air Quality Index was 176 (moderate) after briefly being in the ‘satisfactory’ category in the last few days. Speaking about the same, Mahesh Palawat, Vice president Meteorology and Climate Change from Skymet, stated, “The winds are easterly and south-easterly over Mumbai and the suburbs, as well as Konkan and Goa whereas the minimum temperature is particularly on the higher side and the winds are also very slow. When humidity increases, it leads to the formation of hays and mist in the morning hour and a lot of pollutants, especially the harmful particles, gets deposited in the water vapour leading to increasing pollution levels. In the absence of strong winds in a particular direction for a longer period, these pollutants do not move away and remain suspended in the lower atmosphere,”
When asked about if we can expect the weather conditions to get better in the upcoming days, Palawat stated, “By December 22 or 23, we can expect the air conditions to get better. During the last week of December, the minimum temperatures will also start dropping, maybe two to three degrees above normal.”
Due to the winters, reports published by weather experts have indicated that the air quality has significantly deteriorated. Cities in the north of India have been experiencing this for several months and this has had an adverse impact on the health of several individuals. Data indicates that several localities in the north have an emergency or hazardous level of air quality, which demands immediate action, as citizens with respiratory illnesses could suffer due to the change.