Mumbai to see hazy skies, temperatures around 31 degrees Celsius; AQI at 135

Mumbai and its suburbs will witness a partly cloudy sky with haze on Wednesday The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 17 degrees Celsius respectively according to the India Meteorological Department IMDAs per the Sameer app Mumbairsquos Air Quality Index AQI stood at 135 on Wednesday categorised as moderate This level may cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disorders asthma and heart diseasesAQI across MumbaiBandra Kurla Complex BKC 174Borivali 118Byculla 167Andheri East 157Chembur 107Deonar 143Ghatkopar 134Dense fog blankets Delhi AQI stays in very poor categoryDelhi woke up shrouded in dense fog on Wednesday morning with poor visibility and ldquovery poorrdquo air qualityThe India Meteorological Department IMD issued an orange alert for dense fog between 830 am and 10 am Visibility was recorded at 50 metres at both Palam and Safdarjung at 630 am the weather office said reported news agency PTIThe national capital recorded a 24hour average Air Quality Index AQI of 384 according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board CPCBA stationwise breakdown showed that 21 monitoring stations recorded ldquovery poorrdquo air quality while 16 stations were in the ldquosevererdquo category with Anand Vihar registering the worst AQI at 452 as per data from the CPCBrsquos SAMEER appAccording to CPCB classification an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ldquogoodrdquo 51 to 100 ldquosatisfactoryrdquo 101 to 200 ldquomoderaterdquo 201 to 300 ldquopoorrdquo 301 to 400 ldquovery poorrdquo and 401 to 500 ldquosevererdquoThe air quality outlook remains grim the Air Quality Early Warning System said with the AQI likely to deteriorate to the ldquosevererdquo category on January 1 before easing to the ldquovery poorrdquo category on January 2 For the subsequent six days air quality is expected to remain ldquovery poorrdquoOfficials attributed the pollution levels to an unfavourable ventilation index of below 6000 square metres per second and average wind speeds of less than 10 kmph conditions that are not conducive to the dispersion of pollutants reported PTIOn Tuesday the AQI stood at 388 marking a marginal improvement from Monday when the city recorded a ldquosevererdquo reading of 401On Wednesday the IMD said the minimum temperature at Safdarjung and Ayanagar was recorded at 64 degrees Celsius 04 degrees below normal The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 23 degrees Celsius with dense fog likely to persist through the dayPalam recorded a minimum temperature of 77 degrees Celsius Lodhi Road 68 degrees Celsius and the Ridge 78 degrees Celsius according to the IMDFor New Yearrsquos Day the weather office has forecast a generally cloudy sky with light rain over the national capitalWith PTI inputs