How AI will predict air quality in and around Mumbai
A France-based company has been roped in for a project that would eventually be extended across Maharashtra
Mumbai and areas in the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) face poor air quality, particularly during the winter months. Siddhesh Kadam, chairman, MPCB, said they had launched a project to evolve a real-time air quality index (AQI) forecasting model. “Like weather forecasting models can throw up orange and red alerts during the monsoons, this model will help predict poor air quality days. This will help take remedial measures to control the problem in advance, like, for instance, stopping construction activities,” he added.
The Rs 25 crore project will cover the MMR on a trial basis, before being expanded to cover the rest of the state in the future. MPCB officials said the real-time pollutants source detection, impact forecasting and airflow modelling project was being executed by Fluidyn, a France-based company. Kadam added that the study would take around a year to complete as the company will carry out air quality assessment across all seasons.
The city’s peninsular topography has traditionally helped wind patterns disperse pollutants over the Arabian sea. Ongoing housing and real-estate projects and government-driven linear infrastructure projects, however, have contributed to pollution. The vertical growth of the city has impeded wind circulation, creating air pockets that hinder these flows and prevent the dissipation of pollutants and emissions over a larger area, including the sea.
A study on ‘Spatio?temporal changes of green spaces and their impact on urban environment of Mumbai, India’, published in Springer Nature in 2020, revealed drastic reduction in urban green spaces—from 46.42 per cent (29,260 hectares) in 1988 to 26.67 per cent (16,814 hectares) in 2018. Urban green spaces mitigate urban heat island (UHI) and reduce the increasing land surface temperature (LST). The study by Saidur Rahaman and others brought forth the fact that areas classified as dense and sparse vegetation have declined substantially, whereas the proportion of other land use and land cover has significantly increased.
The Praja Foundation’s ‘Report on the Status of Civic Services, Environmental and Climate Issues in Mumbai’, released in June, said the island city of Mumbai had the best air quality in 2025, while the eastern suburbs showed moderate consistency, and the western suburbs had more variability and data gaps. In 2025, the island city had an average 96 days of good air quality and 136 days with satisfactory air quality, while the eastern suburbs had 79 and 111 days, respectively, and the western city 84 and 114 days, respectively.
“To improve the monitoring of AQI (Air Quality Index), the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) and SAFAR (System of Air Quality, Weather Forecasting and Research), which are separate agencies monitoring air quality in cities, should coordinate and calculate a single AQI using uniform stations to measure major pollutants,” the report says. “Further, air quality stations need to be established in every administrative ward to correctly measure air quality. Pollution is otherwise not reflected in the AQI, as seen from the complaints data. Moreover, all established air quality stations should work at full capacity to ensure the data on air quality is computed accurately.”
The report says Mumbai saw improved air quality in 2024, with 97 “good” and 108 “satisfactory” days. However, the improvements were uneven, with some areas still reporting “poor” air days. Data accuracy was also undermined by non-functional monitoring stations. “Average AQI improved by 10 per cent (from 97 in 2020 to 87 in 2024), yet air pollution complaints rose by 203 per cent during the same period,” it adds.
Environmentalist D. Stalin of the NGO Vanashakti welcomes the move to use technology for monitoring air quality, adding that this was a worldwide trend. This will reduce malpractices such as covering air quality sensors to ensure a healthy reading. “But this technology needs to be tested by independent experts,” he says.
Air quality in the city is particularly bad during winters. Rishikesh Agre, an independent weather forecaster who operates the X handle Mumbai Rains @rushikesh_agre_, says the impact of winter AQI deterioration can be reduced through targeted measures during poor ventilation days. The authorities should intensify dust-control measures at construction sites, ensure regular mechanised road sweeping and strictly curb waste burning. Regulating night-time truck movement and preventing lane congestion can also help reduce emissions buildup. “Timely advisories to citizens, especially during early morning high-AQI hours, do limit their health exposure. While these steps cannot eliminate winter pollution entirely, they are effective in reducing peak severity and improving daily air quality outcomes,” he adds.
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Mumbai and areas in the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) face poor air quality, particularly during the winter months. Siddhesh Kadam, chairman, MPCB, said they had launched a project to evolve a real-time air quality index (AQI) forecasting model. “Like weather forecasting models can throw up orange and red alerts during the monsoons, this model will help predict poor air quality days. This will help take remedial measures to control the problem in advance, like, for instance, stopping construction activities,” he added.
The Rs 25 crore project will cover the MMR on a trial basis, before being expanded to cover the rest of the state in the future. MPCB officials said the real-time pollutants source detection, impact forecasting and airflow modelling project was being executed by Fluidyn, a France-based company. Kadam added that the study would take around a year to complete as the company will carry out air quality assessment across all seasons.
The city’s peninsular topography has traditionally helped wind patterns disperse pollutants over the Arabian sea. Ongoing housing and real-estate projects and government-driven linear infrastructure projects, however, have contributed to pollution. The vertical growth of the city has impeded wind circulation, creating air pockets that hinder these flows and prevent the dissipation of pollutants and emissions over a larger area, including the sea.
A study on ‘Spatio?temporal changes of green spaces and their impact on urban environment of Mumbai, India’, published in Springer Nature in 2020, revealed drastic reduction in urban green spaces—from 46.42 per cent (29,260 hectares) in 1988 to 26.67 per cent (16,814 hectares) in 2018. Urban green spaces mitigate urban heat island (UHI) and reduce the increasing land surface temperature (LST). The study by Saidur Rahaman and others brought forth the fact that areas classified as dense and sparse vegetation have declined substantially, whereas the proportion of other land use and land cover has significantly increased.
The Praja Foundation’s ‘Report on the Status of Civic Services, Environmental and Climate Issues in Mumbai’, released in June, said the island city of Mumbai had the best air quality in 2025, while the eastern suburbs showed moderate consistency, and the western suburbs had more variability and data gaps. In 2025, the island city had an average 96 days of good air quality and 136 days with satisfactory air quality, while the eastern suburbs had 79 and 111 days, respectively, and the western city 84 and 114 days, respectively.
“To improve the monitoring of AQI (Air Quality Index), the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) and SAFAR (System of Air Quality, Weather Forecasting and Research), which are separate agencies monitoring air quality in cities, should coordinate and calculate a single AQI using uniform stations to measure major pollutants,” the report says. “Further, air quality stations need to be established in every administrative ward to correctly measure air quality. Pollution is otherwise not reflected in the AQI, as seen from the complaints data. Moreover, all established air quality stations should work at full capacity to ensure the data on air quality is computed accurately.”
The report says Mumbai saw improved air quality in 2024, with 97 “good” and 108 “satisfactory” days. However, the improvements were uneven, with some areas still reporting “poor” air days. Data accuracy was also undermined by non-functional monitoring stations. “Average AQI improved by 10 per cent (from 97 in 2020 to 87 in 2024), yet air pollution complaints rose by 203 per cent during the same period,” it adds.
Environmentalist D. Stalin of the NGO Vanashakti welcomes the move to use technology for monitoring air quality, adding that this was a worldwide trend. This will reduce malpractices such as covering air quality sensors to ensure a healthy reading. “But this technology needs to be tested by independent experts,” he says.
Air quality in the city is particularly bad during winters. Rishikesh Agre, an independent weather forecaster who operates the X handle Mumbai Rains @rushikesh_agre_, says the impact of winter AQI deterioration can be reduced through targeted measures during poor ventilation days. The authorities should intensify dust-control measures at construction sites, ensure regular mechanised road sweeping and strictly curb waste burning. Regulating night-time truck movement and preventing lane congestion can also help reduce emissions buildup. “Timely advisories to citizens, especially during early morning high-AQI hours, do limit their health exposure. While these steps cannot eliminate winter pollution entirely, they are effective in reducing peak severity and improving daily air quality outcomes,” he adds.
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Mumbai and areas in the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) face poor air quality, particularly during the winter months. Siddhesh Kadam, chairman, MPCB, said they had launched a project to evolve a real-time air quality index (AQI) forecasting model. “Like weather forecasting models can throw up orange and red alerts during the monsoons, this model will help predict poor air quality days. This will help take remedial measures to control the problem in advance, like, for instance, stopping construction activities,” he added.
The Rs 25 crore project will cover the MMR on a trial basis, before being expanded to cover the rest of the state in the future. MPCB officials said the real-time pollutants source detection, impact forecasting and airflow modelling project was being executed by Fluidyn, a France-based company. Kadam added that the study would take around a year to complete as the company will carry out air quality assessment across all seasons.
The city’s peninsular topography has traditionally helped wind patterns disperse pollutants over the Arabian sea. Ongoing housing and real-estate projects and government-driven linear infrastructure projects, however, have contributed to pollution. The vertical growth of the city has impeded wind circulation, creating air pockets that hinder these flows and prevent the dissipation of pollutants and emissions over a larger area, including the sea.
A study on ‘Spatio?temporal changes of green spaces and their impact on urban environment of Mumbai, India’, published in Springer Nature in 2020, revealed drastic reduction in urban green spaces—from 46.42 per cent (29,260 hectares) in 1988 to 26.67 per cent (16,814 hectares) in 2018. Urban green spaces mitigate urban heat island (UHI) and reduce the increasing land surface temperature (LST). The study by Saidur Rahaman and others brought forth the fact that areas classified as dense and sparse vegetation have declined substantially, whereas the proportion of other land use and land cover has significantly increased.
The Praja Foundation’s ‘Report on the Status of Civic Services, Environmental and Climate Issues in Mumbai’, released in June, said the island city of Mumbai had the best air quality in 2025, while the eastern suburbs showed moderate consistency, and the western suburbs had more variability and data gaps. In 2025, the island city had an average 96 days of good air quality and 136 days with satisfactory air quality, while the eastern suburbs had 79 and 111 days, respectively, and the western city 84 and 114 days, respectively.
“To improve the monitoring of AQI (Air Quality Index), the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) and SAFAR (System of Air Quality, Weather Forecasting and Research), which are separate agencies monitoring air quality in cities, should coordinate and calculate a single AQI using uniform stations to measure major pollutants,” the report says. “Further, air quality stations need to be established in every administrative ward to correctly measure air quality. Pollution is otherwise not reflected in the AQI, as seen from the complaints data. Moreover, all established air quality stations should work at full capacity to ensure the data on air quality is computed accurately.”
The report says Mumbai saw improved air quality in 2024, with 97 “good” and 108 “satisfactory” days. However, the improvements were uneven, with some areas still reporting “poor” air days. Data accuracy was also undermined by non-functional monitoring stations. “Average AQI improved by 10 per cent (from 97 in 2020 to 87 in 2024), yet air pollution complaints rose by 203 per cent during the same period,” it adds.
Environmentalist D. Stalin of the NGO Vanashakti welcomes the move to use technology for monitoring air quality, adding that this was a worldwide trend. This will reduce malpractices such as covering air quality sensors to ensure a healthy reading. “But this technology needs to be tested by independent experts,” he says.
Air quality in the city is particularly bad during winters. Rishikesh Agre, an independent weather forecaster who operates the X handle Mumbai Rains @rushikesh_agre_, says the impact of winter AQI deterioration can be reduced through targeted measures during poor ventilation days. The authorities should intensify dust-control measures at construction sites, ensure regular mechanised road sweeping and strictly curb waste burning. Regulating night-time truck movement and preventing lane congestion can also help reduce emissions buildup. “Timely advisories to citizens, especially during early morning high-AQI hours, do limit their health exposure. While these steps cannot eliminate winter pollution entirely, they are effective in reducing peak severity and improving daily air quality outcomes,” he adds.
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