Mumbai air quality deteriorating

Mumbai: Mumbai’s air has been deteriorating over the last two years, claimed the latest report on civic issued released by Praja Foundation on Tuesday.

While the city did not witness a single day with ‘good’ air quality in 2018, the lowest Average Monthly Air Quality Index (AQI)- an indicator of pollutants in the air, has increased from 55 in June 2017 to 65 in July 2018. Low AQI means good air quality for the city.   

The report stated that the highest average monthly AQI in 2018 was 176 in January 2018.

“This indicates a worsening of air quality as the years have progressed. January continues to remain the worst month of the year for pollution in Mumbai. Mumbai sees the best air quality in the months of June and August, which can be explained by the presence of the monsoon season, which drastically helps abate poor air quality,” read the report.  

“The year 2018 did not see ‘good’ air quality even for a single day. It is a big indicator of how the BMC and the state agencies have ignored the issue of air pollution. Even the coastal road project is encouraging private vehicles on roads,” said Rahul Kulkarni, project officer, Praja Foundation.

The air pollution complaints increased by 30 per cent  and pollution related complaints due to chemical effluents increased by 53 percent from 2017 to 2018.