Thick blanket of smog engulfs city; Deonar fire, air pollution and mercury drop blamed

Even as various parts of the city seemed to have been engulfed in a thick blanket of smog on Thursday, weather experts claimed that the reason for it varied from fire at Deonar dumping ground to high levels of particulate pollutants in the air to city's minimum temperatures dropping to 14 degree Celsius.

According to IMD Mumbai, the maximum temperature recorded at Santa Cruz was 28.8 degree Celsius, while the minimum was 14 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature recorded at Colaba was 26.6 degree Celsius and the minimum 18.5 degree Celsius.

A couple of fire incidents at Deonar dumping ground caused heavy smoke, which soon spread across the eastern suburbs, making breathing difficult.

According to experts on air quality, what was alarming was that at six location out of nine where air quality monitoring happens, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was found to be 'very poor'. At the remaining three locations, it was found to be 'poor'. If the AQI range is above 100, the air is not considered safe for breathing.

The overall real time AQI of Mumbai, as recorded by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), pegged the PM 2.5 levels at various places like this: Borivali-346 µg/m3, Malad-380µg/m3, Bhandup-317µg/m3, Andheri-343µg/m3, BKC-328µg/m3, Chembur-358µg/m3 and Navi Mumbai-319µg/m3. Similarly, the PM 10 levels measured in Borivali stood at 249 µg/m3, Malad 221µg/m3, Bhandup 171µg/m3, Andheri 197µg/m3, BKC 169µg/m3, Chembur-242µg/m3 and Navi Mumbai 153µg/m3.

IMD Mumbai officials said the reason for the hazy blanket was the high levels of PM 2.5 as these tiny particles in the air were known to reduce visibility.

According to environmentalist Rishi Aggarwal, one of the biggest problems on Thursday was the fire in Deonar. "I was travelling and close to Dadar station, the entire area seemed to have been enveloped by thick smog, which was obviously due to the fire. The air smelled acrid and it was difficult to breath properly. This is a complete failure on the part of the civic administration that has not been able to handle the Solid Waste Management (SWM). It is strange that there is no outrage against the authorities because of whom people are suffering from respiratory disorders," he said.

The haze and smog had people on social media not only complaining about the bad air quality but also discussing solutions ranging from shutting the Deonar dumping ground to the odd-even formula that was implemented in Delhi recently to tackle bad air quality.

According to the forecast of SAFAR, city air quality will continue to remain between 'poor' and 'very poor' in the coming days.