Rise in AQI owing to warm weather, vehicular emissions

City's air quality in 2024 showed marked improvement but experts say air is still far from healthy

- Sabah Virani and Shreya Jachak

MUMBAI: Air pollution has dominated conversations in Mumbai recently, with hazy skies and a pall of gloom shrouding the city's skyline. Amidst these concerns, new data accessed from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and analysed by climate research startup Envirocatalysts offers a surprising insight: Mumbai's air quality in 2024 showed marked improvement compared to the past five years, nearing pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

A cleaner 2024? Daily air quality index (AQI) readings at midnight painted an optimistic picture. The city recorded only one day of 'poor' AQI in 2024—on November 2, attributed to Diwali firecrackers. A few other days came close, such as November 1 (AQI 190) and November 24 (AQI 180), but these did not breach the 'poor' threshold. Most days fell within the 'moderate' range, with 148 such days logged. Additionally, 130 days were categorised as 'satisfactory,' and 87 days achieved the 'good' benchmark. Annual average concentrations of pollutants, including PM2.5, also improved, falling below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) after three consecutive years of exceeding them. However, experts caution against interpreting these numbers as a complete success.