04 February,2016 08:31 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
Govt body issues health alert, states air quality to deteriorate further
It appears that the fire at the Deonar dumping ground refuses to die. While Mumbaikars were hoping for an improvement in the air quality, after the fire showed signs of subsiding, a minor fire at the dumping round on Wednesday once again deteriorated air quality in Deonar and its neighbouring areas.
To make matters worse, an advisory issued on the website of System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) states: "Health alert. Everyone may experience more or less health effects, avoid outdoor activity. It is advisable to use pollution masks."
When this correspondent checked the website at 7.38 pm yesterday, Air Quality Index (AQI) at Chembur - which is near to Deonar - was at 364. And is expected to touch 367 today. Wednesday's AQI for the city was 305 (very poor). The AQI is worse than Delhi's AQI of 233. For the last one week, since the Deonar fire started, Mumbai AQI has remained between 300-400.
