Following brief improvement in air quality, that is largely attributed to changing weather conditions and the BMC’s implementation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) 4 norms in areas where AQI surpassed 200—pollution levels in Mumbai have once again deteriorated. After holding steady for three days, the air quality began to decline on Friday, only to worsen on Saturday. Monitoring stations at Borivili and Byculla, where construction work has been halted as part of dust mitigation efforts, shifted from moderate or satisfactory readings on Wednesday and Thursday to poor or very poor by the weekend.

BMC’s GRAP 4 norms were imposed in areas where the AQI exceeded 200, specifically in Borivli East, Byculla, and Mumbai Central, halting all construction projects and mandating dust-mitigation measures. This decision followed air-quality data from December 28 and 29 showing AQI values above 270 in Navy Nagar, Colaba, Byculla, and Borivili East, indicating “poor” to “very poor” conditions. It was then that BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, took strict measures to combat the deteriorating air, which he attributed to “climate change, vehicular emissions, and dust from construction sites.”