‘Fields upon fields…’: Pilot shares photos of farm fires as Mumbai chokes on poor AQI – BusinessToday

It is not only North India that suffers with poor AQI from farm fires; India’s financial capital also faces the same fate. 

Fresh concerns about air quality in Mumbai have been triggered by eyewitness accounts from the skies, pointing to agricultural burning in the state’s hinterland as a contributing factor to the city’s pollution spikes. 

Vishal Jolapara, a pilot who frequently flies across Maharashtra, recently shared visuals of vast stretches of scorched farmland, offering a perspective rarely visible to residents on the ground. 

“The reason for Mumbai’s terrible AQI, something we pilots see on a daily basis flying across my great state: Fields upon fields set on fire in the hinterland. Winters and easterly winds bring that air to Mumbai,” he wrote. 

His remarks have added to an ongoing debate about how seasonal crop-residue burning — more commonly associated with northern states — can also influence air quality along the western coast under specific meteorological conditions. 

The issue came into sharper focus when Worli recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 278 around 4 pm on February 20, placing it firmly in the ‘poor’ category. Acting swiftly, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recommended stop-work notices for 12 construction sites within the G-South Ward jurisdiction, signalling concern over the role of dust and ongoing infrastructure activity in compounding the problem. 

Citywide readings, however, painted a mixed picture. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Mumbai’s overall AQI stood at 130 on February 20 — classified as ‘moderate’. Even so, the data shows a pattern of persistently elevated pollution levels through February. 

The city logged AQI readings of 141 and 140 on February 2 and 3, followed by 134 on February 4 and again on February 15. Except for February 10, 18 and 19 — when levels dipped below 100 — the index has largely remained in three digits throughout the month. 

Environmental observers say the combination of regional biomass burning, construction dust, and seasonal wind patterns can create episodic pollution events even in coastal metros traditionally perceived as less vulnerable than landlocked northern cities.