Mumbai: On the very first day of the New Year, air quality dropped to ‘very poor’ in the city. The Air Quality Index (AQI) showed that the quality dropped to 317. According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) the air quality would reduce to 309 on Monday.
The quality, however, all over the city on Sunday remained to be very poor, as the air quality index remained to be above 300 in almost all areas. Mazagaon reported the highest reading with 370 AQI and Worli reported to have a reading of 277 AQI, which was the lowest. Chembur reported AQI 317, Bandra-Kurla Complex had 332, Borivali had AQI 281, Malad had 322 AQI, Colaba had 318 and Navi Mumbai recorded AQI to be 349. Dr. Gufran Beig, project director of SAFAR said, “The air quality on Sunday dropped in Mumbai due three main reasons: firecrackers used on New Year’s
Eve, the cool temperature and stagnancy in wind. The quality in air is likely to improve on Monday.” AQI ranging from 101 to 200 is moderate, 201 to 300 is termed to be poor and 301 to 344 as very poor. Under the plan scheme Metropolitan Advisories for Cities for Sports, Tourism (Metropolitan Air Quality and Weather Services), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), government of India introduced a national initiative, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, known as SAFAR for greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location specific information on air quality in near real time and its forecast 1-3 days in advance for the first time in India.
The SAFAR system was developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, along with ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF). Its objective is to increase awareness among general public regarding the air quality in their city.
