The Mumbai Fire Brigade was relatively rested this Deepavali, with fewer fires breaking out in the city during the festive season.
Over the years, the calls to the department during Deepavali — usually a busy season for the fire personnel — have been seeing a dip. In 2016, there were 53 fire calls, in 2017 there were only 25, in 2018 there were 50, while this year, there were 47 fire calls due to firecrackers. Of them, 46 were level I (minor) calls and only one was level II (slightly major), from a hutment at Reay Road.
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The city also breathed easy and suffered less noise pollution. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), India, Deepavali this year was one of the best recorded periods in the past five years for the Mumbai-Pune region.
SAFAR data shows that Mumbai’s overall air quality stood at 87 on Sunday, 96 on Monday and 92 on Tuesday. These are in the satisfactory category. In the past five years, on Deepavali day, air quality has often been in the ‘very poor’ category.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) comes out with its own report every Deepavali and has said the Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai ranged from satisfactory to moderate, the highest being 133 (moderate) in Navi Mumbai on October 28. The AQI for Mumbai on Deepavali days — October 27, 28 and 29 — were 92 (satisfactory), 104 (moderate) and 112 (moderate) respectively. Last year, the levels ranged from moderate to very poor in some areas.
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An MPCB spokesperson said, “Air pollution levels and noise pollution levels are both significantly low this year as compared to last year’s data.”
The SAFAR report, “The sudden change in the monsoon dynamics worked positively to keep air quality in a satisfactory range in spite of moderate fireworks.”
In terms of noise pollution, Awaaz Foundation recorded the loudest noise samples at 112.3 decibels (dB) this year as opposed to 114 in 2018, and 117 in 2017.
Permissible noise limits in residential areas is 55 dB in the daytime and 45 dB at night. According to MPCB, the permissible noise limit for a single cracker is 125 dB and for a series of crackers is between 90 dB and 110 dB.
Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation, who has been recording noise pollution levels during Deepavali since 2004, said this was the quietest festive season in the past 15 years. “Every year I go to specific locations in the city and record the noise levels on the decibel meter. This time, the highest was 112.3 dB at Marine Drive right after 10 p.m.,” she said.
Ms. Abdulali went to Marine Drive, Carter Road, Bandra Talao and Worli Sea Face to take the readings.
Temperatures soar
The weather, though, did not give the city a breather. Maximum temperatures soared on Wednesday, touching 36.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal. With the rain taking a break in Mumbai for the past few days, daytime temperatures have spiked. The city had recorded a maximum temperature of 34.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, which went up to 36.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The night too was two degrees warmer at 24.8 degrees Celsius.
No rain forecast for city
Meanwhile, Cyclone Kyarr is 1,100 km away from Mumbai and there is no alert issued for the city. Thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds are likely to occur in South Konkan and Raigad on Thursday, but there is no such forecast for Mumbai.