‘Fields upon fields…’: Pilot shares photographs of farm fires as Mumbai chokes on poor AQI
It’s not solely North India that suffers with poor AQI from farm fires; India’s monetary capital additionally faces the identical destiny.
Recent considerations about air high quality in Mumbai have been triggered by eyewitness accounts from the skies, pointing to agricultural burning within the state’s hinterland as a contributing issue to town’s air pollution spikes.
Vishal Jolapara, a pilot who regularly flies throughout Maharashtra, just lately shared visuals of huge stretches of scorched farmland, providing a perspective not often seen to residents on the bottom.
“The rationale for Mumbai’s horrible AQI, one thing we pilots see each day flying throughout my nice state: Fields upon fields set on fireplace within the hinterland. Winters and easterly winds convey that air to Mumbai,” he wrote.
His remarks have added to an ongoing debate about how seasonal crop-residue burning — extra generally related to northern states — can even affect air high quality alongside the western coast underneath particular meteorological situations.
The difficulty got here into sharper focus when Worli recorded an Air High quality Index (AQI) of 278 round 4 pm on February 20, inserting it firmly within the ‘poor’ class. Appearing swiftly, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) really helpful stop-work notices for 12 development websites throughout the G-South Ward jurisdiction, signalling concern over the position of mud and ongoing infrastructure exercise in compounding the issue.
Citywide readings, nevertheless, painted a blended image. In line with the Central Air pollution Management Board, Mumbai’s general AQI stood at 130 on February 20 — categorised as ‘reasonable’. Even so, the information exhibits a sample of persistently elevated air pollution ranges via February.
Town logged AQI readings of 141 and 140 on February 2 and three, adopted by 134 on February 4 and once more on February 15. Apart from February 10, 18 and 19 — when ranges dipped beneath 100 — the index has largely remained in three digits all through the month.
Environmental observers say the mix of regional biomass burning, development mud, and seasonal wind patterns can create episodic air pollution occasions even in coastal metros historically perceived as much less weak than landlocked northern cities.
