City to remain cloudy today as AQI drops to ‘poor’

The city witnessed a spike in air pollution as the air quality index (AQI) entered the ‘poor’ category on Sunday.

Cloudy conditions were witnessed for the second consecutive day but no rain was recorded in the city, contrary to predictions of very light to light rain for Mumbai by the weather bureau.

India Meteorological Department has predicted cloudy conditions to continue on Monday with the possibility of very light to light rain on December 25 (Wednesday).

The AQI was recorded at 201 (poor) during the day, which increased to 212 (poor) by evening, according to System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

Air pollution is likely to increase further with a predicted AQI of 215 (poor) for Monday. An AQI of 196 (moderate) was recorded on Saturday, while over the past week, AQI ranged between 130 and 170 (moderate).

Researchers said an increase in moisture (leading to cloud cover) allowed the pollutant-carrying capacity to increase in Mumbai’s air.

Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) continued to be the most polluted location, with ‘very poor’ AQI of 302 followed by Navi Mumbai at 293 (poor).

“Humidity has increased over the city under the influence of moisture incursions from the Arabian Sea, leading to cloud cover as well. Combined with this, low-wind speed has led to the formation of a pollutant boundary layer close to the surface,” said Akshay Deoras, meteorologist and PhD researcher, University of Reading, UK.

Meanwhile, the night temperature in the suburbs was 4.2 degrees above normal at 22.2 degrees Celsius, while south Mumbai recorded 22.8 degrees Celsius, 2.4 degrees above normal.

“Rise in night temperature was due to cloud cover during early hours on Sunday,” said Deoras.

The maximum temperature in the suburbs was a degree above normal on Sunday, at 33 degrees Celsius. South Mumbai’s recorded day temperature was close to the normal mark at 31.6 degrees Celsius.