The unseasonal showers in the last week brought down the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Mumbai. This has also brought relief to the BMC since they now wash only the busiest roads up to 400 kms daily. Earlier, the civic team would clean and wash 500 kms of roads to combat air pollution. Meanwhile, the city’s overall AQI was in the ‘moderate’ category on Saturday evening.

Washing of roads to mitigate pollution

Following Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s directives to prevent air pollution, the BMC started to wash the roads from November 3. Shinde instructed washing 1000 kms of roads daily out of the city’s 2,050-km-long network. However, due to a lack of funds, limited resources, and challenges such as cleaning during non-peak hours, BMC could manage to wash only 500 km of roads. But the sudden rainfall activities on last Sunday brought the AQI of Mumbai into the ‘good’ category last week.

AQI improves after sudden showers

“AQI has been down after sudden showers, so at present, we have stopped washing roads where there is no dust. Also, the internal roads are monitored by the wards. So we have focused on only the busiest roads and one near construction activities,” said a senior civic official. The BMC has prioritized washing the busiest roads spanning over 60 feet width. The roads are cleaned through vehicle-mounted mist sprayer machines and pipes attached to water tankers.

The BMC owns 30 and has hired 100 water tankers, 17 sludge dewatering equipment, and five mist-blowing machines for the process. Non-potable and recycled water, including water from sewage treatment plants, wells, and borewells, are used for the same.

AQI recorded in different parts of the city

AQI in the moderate category… The overall AQI stood at 47 on November 27, which is said to be the first time in a good category post-monsoon this year. However, the (AQI) for the city has increased and recorded at 131, categorizing it as moderate on Saturday evening. AQI was recorded as ‘satisfactory’ in Worli (88) and Bhandup (96). While other areas Borivali, Malad, Andheri, and Mazgaon were in the moderate category. Only air quality in Colaba (247) was recorded as poor.