Mumbai: Even as Mumbai recorded a satisfactory average AQI of 52 on Sunday and remained below the 100 mark throughout May, the AQI monitoring station at BKC stood out sharply with a reading of 162 — the highest in the city by a wide margin. In comparison, Bandra East recorded an AQI of 35, Kurla 91, while Powai was the cleanest at 19.Environmental experts attributed BKC’s unusually high pollution levels to a combination of intense vehicular traffic and poor air dispersal caused by dense urbanisation and high-rises in the business district.“BKC is becoming a pollution pocket where dispersal is extremely poor because of the urban landscape and concentration of tall buildings,” said Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at Enviroclysts, an environmental research firm.He said that unlike other polluted parts of the city where particulate matter in the air namely PM2.5 and PM10 dominate, BKC’s AQI also has high amounts of gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ammonia and carbon dioxide, the latter is the highest contributor. Carbon dioxide is largely generated through combustion from private vehicles.“The sheer volume of vehicles entering and exiting BKC every day is driving emissions. Since the area lacks adequate dispersal, pollutants remain trapped, creating highly polluted pockets,” Dahiya said.Calling for corrective measures, he stressed the need to reduce dependence on private vehicles in the commercial hub. “Better transportation and mobility options need to be developed for BKC to bring down emissions,” he said.
