Juhi Chawla feels breathing in Mumbai air is like ‘inhaling dust’, Dia Mirza says city’s AQI is worse than Delhi

Actor Juhi Chawla rued the worsening air quality of Mumbai and said that she felt like she was ‘inhaling dust’ when she came out to her balcony for a walk. She wondered if the lockdown was a blessing and recalled the air being ‘blissfully clear’.

“What has happened to the air in Mumbai ..?? I tried to walk in my balcony... and I felt like I was inhaling dust... only dust. Maybe the lockdown wasn’t so bad after all, I remember the air being so blissfully clear,” she wrote on Twitter.

Replying to Juhi’s tweet, actor Dia Mirza wrote, “It’s been awful!!! Is it construction dust, waste burning, stubble burning, industrial emissions or all? Mumbai has had worse #AQI than Delhi since the beginning of this year. So much for being a coastal city. Doesn’t seem to make a difference anymore.”

On Thursday, Mumbai’s air quality deteriorated to its worst this year and was in the ‘very poor’ category with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 313. It was worse than Delhi, which was ‘poor’, with an AQI of 256. This entire month, Mumbai’s air quality has been ‘very poor’, with a minor drop in pollution levels now and then.

Meanwhile, the air quality of Delhi is in the ‘poor’ category today, with India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting an increase in wind speeds during the day, which is expected to bring relief to the city.

Last month, in an interview with Hindustan Times, Juhi said that she has no reservations about shooting amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “There is no need to panic. I already went for the shoot of a commercial, and instead of 100 odd people, the unit was scaled down to 60 people, and the work got done very efficiently. Everybody feels strongly about it, just proper hygiene is required, and arrange it in a way. We will be fine. I am not really paranoid (about working full time),” she said.