12-12-2022, 02:40 PM
Debarshi Dasgupta
India Correspondent
UPDATED 16 MINS AGO
NEW DELHI – News about India’s annual winter pollution crisis is mostly dominated by Delhi’s infamous bouts of smog. But last week, Mumbai, India’s financial nerve centre which lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea, hit the headlines for its deteriorating air quality, accentuating the country’s widespread pollution problem.
The city saw its overall air quality index (AQI) surpass 300 – a threshold that qualifies the air as “very poor” according to India’s measuring standards – on four consecutive days from Dec 5 to 8. On certain days, Mumbai’s pollution levels were worse than Delhi’s. The AQI in Mumbai last Friday at 8.30am was 309, compared with Delhi’s 249.
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This year’s winter in Mumbai has been the most polluted in the past four years and the city had no “good” or “satisfactory” air quality days in the last 30 days
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The poor air quality has been attributed to a lack of incoming sea breeze and unusually low wind speeds that have failed to disperse pollutants from key sources such as vehicles and industries, besides ongoing infrastructure projects and road dust suspension. The city, with an estimated population of more than 18 million people, is witnessing several large infrastructure projects, including the expansion of its mass rapid transit system and a coastal road.
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The city’s share of vehicular pollution has been rising too. A year-long Safar study, conducted between 2019 and 2020, showed vehicular emissions contributed 30.5 per cent of Mumbai’s PM2.5 particles, up from 16 per cent in 2016-17.
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“The ridership on Mumbai’s iconic bus network has been falling despite an increase in population and, meanwhile, private vehicles have intruded into the roads,” he said. “There is uncontrollable traffic because of an exponential increase in private vehicles.”
From 2.6 million registered vehicles in Mumbai in 2005, the number has now crossed 4.2 million
......
an effective action plan against pollution in Mumbai has been held back because of poor coordination among different agencies.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-...ir-quality
India Correspondent
UPDATED 16 MINS AGO
NEW DELHI – News about India’s annual winter pollution crisis is mostly dominated by Delhi’s infamous bouts of smog. But last week, Mumbai, India’s financial nerve centre which lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea, hit the headlines for its deteriorating air quality, accentuating the country’s widespread pollution problem.
The city saw its overall air quality index (AQI) surpass 300 – a threshold that qualifies the air as “very poor” according to India’s measuring standards – on four consecutive days from Dec 5 to 8. On certain days, Mumbai’s pollution levels were worse than Delhi’s. The AQI in Mumbai last Friday at 8.30am was 309, compared with Delhi’s 249.
......
This year’s winter in Mumbai has been the most polluted in the past four years and the city had no “good” or “satisfactory” air quality days in the last 30 days
......
The poor air quality has been attributed to a lack of incoming sea breeze and unusually low wind speeds that have failed to disperse pollutants from key sources such as vehicles and industries, besides ongoing infrastructure projects and road dust suspension. The city, with an estimated population of more than 18 million people, is witnessing several large infrastructure projects, including the expansion of its mass rapid transit system and a coastal road.
......
The city’s share of vehicular pollution has been rising too. A year-long Safar study, conducted between 2019 and 2020, showed vehicular emissions contributed 30.5 per cent of Mumbai’s PM2.5 particles, up from 16 per cent in 2016-17.
......
“The ridership on Mumbai’s iconic bus network has been falling despite an increase in population and, meanwhile, private vehicles have intruded into the roads,” he said. “There is uncontrollable traffic because of an exponential increase in private vehicles.”
From 2.6 million registered vehicles in Mumbai in 2005, the number has now crossed 4.2 million
......
an effective action plan against pollution in Mumbai has been held back because of poor coordination among different agencies.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-...ir-quality
