MUMBAI’S POLLUTION

  • February 9, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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MUMBAI’S POLLUTION

TOPIC: Environment

Context- Mumbai has seen unusually high levels of pollution this week, with its air quality index reading frequently above 300, at times matching Delhi’s AQI.

Concept-

  • An AQI between 301 and 400 is categorised as ‘red’ or ‘very poor’. The AQI in Mumbai touched 316 on Sunday, followed by 318 on Monday and 320 on Tuesday morning.
  • On Tuesday, the AQI in Mazgaon, the most polluted area in the city, rose to 495, a reading in the ‘severe’ category, according to the Ministry of Earth Science’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR).

What is causing the increase in pollution levels in Mumbai?

  • According to SAFAR, the current high pollution is due to a dust storm that has hit the city.
  • This storm originated on February 3 over Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the border areas of Rajasthan.
  • Low day temperatures, weak, low-speed winds, high relative humidity, and coldness of the air are contributing to the bad air above the city.
  • In Mumbai, a windswept coastal city, the polluted air is regularly cleaned out by a strong sea breeze. Low wind speeds have, however, caused local pollutants hanging above the city & have not been effectively dispersed.

SAFAR

  1. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) is a national initiative introduced by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to measure the air quality of a metropolitan city, by measuring the overall pollution level and the location-specific air quality of the city.
  2. The system is indigenously developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and is operationalized by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
  3. It has a giant true color LED display that gives out real-time air quality index on a 24×7 basis with color-coding (along with 72 hours advance forecast).
  4. It monitors all weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction, UV radiation, and solar radiation.
  5. Pollutants monitored: PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, and Mercury.

Air Quality Index:

  • The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality.
  • The measurement of air quality is based on eight pollutants, namely: Particulate Matter (PM10), Particulate Matter (PM2.5), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Ammonia (NH3), and Lead (Pb).
  • AQI has six categories of air quality. These are: Good, Satisfactory, Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor and Severe.
  • It has been developed by the CPCB in consultation with IIT-Kanpur and an expert group comprising medical and air-quality professionals.
  • The higher the AQI, the greater the level of air pollution and the more serious the health concern.

Environment MUMBAI’S POLLUTION