The air quality in Mumbai improved to the ‘good’ category on Tuesday morning after unseasonal rain on Monday reduced the pollution levels in the city. The capital city of Maharashtra, which witnessed rising pollution levels in the last few days, finally witnessed clear skies on Tuesday morning with the overall air quality index (AQI) reaching the ‘good’ category.

The overall air quality index (AQI) of Mumbai stood at 56 at 9:30 am on Tuesday, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) data. Most parts of the city witnessed AQI below 100, with the air quality remaining at ‘good’ to ‘satisfactory’ levels.

According to the monitoring systems of the Central Pollution Control Board, Borivali East recorded a ‘satisfactory’ air quality with an AQI of 81, Chakala Andheri East at 53, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 63, Deonar at 69, Kandivali East at 82, and Kurla at 92 on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, areas like Byculla, Chembur, Colaba, Mazagaon and Worli recorded AQI between 30 and 50.

A significant decrease in the spiking air pollution in the city was witnessed after the rainfall from Sunday night to Monday morning. The rainfall in the last 24 hours concluding at 8:30 am on Monday, stood at 6 mm as recorded by Colaba observatory and at 2 mm as recorded by Santacruz observatory.

With the city receiving unseasonal showers over the weekend, the air quality has shown a significant improvement. According to experts, pollutants and some particulate matter which are suspended in the air get washed away following the rain, bringing down the AQI levels, according to an Indian Express report.

Additionally, the temperatures on Tuesday are likely to be between 23 degrees Celsius to 29 degrees.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has predicted partially cloudy skies in the city and suburbs on Tuesday morning.

The city is expected to receive light rain on Tuesday, which may help to improve the air quality further.

“The rains and the wind speeds will now reduce, with the possibility of light rains on Tuesday,” Sunil Kamble, scientist and head of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai, told Hindustan Times.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)