Feb to end on a pleasant note for Mumbai

Just as Mumbaikars brace with the heat in the city, the Met department has announced more bad news. It is said that the maximum temperature recorded in the IMD Santacruz observatory was 36.5° celsius on Tuesday which is 5.6° above normal. Meanwhile, the Santacruz observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 22.4° celsius on Tuesday. However, this is lower than the temperatures recorded on Monday (38.1° celsius). 

As per weather experts, the increase in temperatures is expected when there’s a transition between two seasons. So it’s safe to assume that winter is officially over in the city, after arriving pretty late in the first place.

The IMD Colaba observatory, on the other hand, recorded a maximum temperature of 35.6° celsius, which is 5.8° celsius above normal. The minimum temperature recorded in this observatory was 22.2° celsius. 

Deputy Director-General (Western Region) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), KS Hosalikar mentioned that the surge in temperatures was primarily due to the dry easterly winds blowing across the state. 

However, as per the weather apps, the weather may get pleasant towards the end of the month. From what one can see, it is expected that in the last couple of days of the month, the maximum will hover around 30 degrees celsius while the minimum too will be in the range of 24 -26 degrees. 

The air around Mumbai remained “poor” as per health standards with an AQI (Air Quality Index) of 263 recorded in the city. While this is better than Monday’s AQI score of 283, it’s still considered unsafe for the residents.

Yesterday, we talked about the city’s air taking a heavy toll due to the increase in pollution. In places like Navi Mumbai and Bandra-Kurla Complex, the authorities recorded an astounding AQI score of 347 and 322 respectively. However, residents of Bhandup were fortunate enough to get an AQI score of just 148, which is considered relatively safe.

This is considered hazardous as per global standards and citizens hope that the authorities take the necessary steps to curb this in the long run. Reducing carbon emissions or imposing a carbon tax has been previously suggested as a remedy to this menace as it will cut down the flow of privately owned vehicles on the city’s roads.