Mumbai Rain To Intensify? IMD Issues Yellow Alert for Week-Long Rainfall; AQI Drops To 102- Check Details

Mumbai AQI: As Mumbaikars woke up to a muggy yet mild Monday morning, the city recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 102, placing it in the moderate category, as per the data on SAFAR. While the skies remained partly cloudy with intermittent showers, the city’s air remained breathable. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now rolling out new tools to monitor and manage this.

Over the past few days, Mumbai has seen on-and-off spells of rain, cooling the city slightly after the early June heat. While the downpours haven’t been particularly heavy, they’ve been enough to keep temperatures from soaring. Sunday saw a maximum of 33 degrees Celsius, with similar weather expected over the coming days.

Mumbai Rains: Showers in Sight All Week

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai is in for a rainy week ahead:

• 8 June: Partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers
• 9–10 June: Generally cloudy skies with light rain
• 11–12 June: Moderate rain expected
• 13–14 June: Widespread rain forecast

The maximum temperature is expected to hover between 31 degrees Celsius and 33 degrees Celsius, while minimum temperatures will remain around 25 degrees Celsius–26 degrees Celsius, offering Mumbaikars a brief respite from the earlier heat.

Despite the light showers, the AQI stood at 102 on Monday, a level that, while not alarming, still raises concern for long-term exposure, especially for those living or working near construction zones.

In a bid to tackle air pollution at construction sites, the BMC has launched a pilot project to procure five handheld ambient air quality monitoring devices, each costing around Rs 5 lakh, according to a TIE report. These portable devices will help civic engineers monitor pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, and other harmful gases in real time.

A senior official said, “While the court has called for all construction sites to install their own monitoring sensors, it is also necessary that our engineers have their own monitoring mechanisms…” The devices, unlike bulky CAAQMS units, are compact and can be deployed swiftly wherever needed.

Mumbai currently has 25 monitoring stations, but only 10% of construction sites comply with AQI monitoring norms. To address this, BMC recently directed all developers to install standardised sensors. The civic body has also floated tenders for mobile devices and may expand the initiative based on the pilot’s success.