Juhi Chawla flags strange 'burnt-fuel' smell in Mumbai amid post-Diwali air pollution surge

Mumbai: Actress Juhi Chawla has expressed her concerns about  strange smell blanketing the city. On Thursday, the actress took to her X, formerly Twitter, and penned a long note. SHe questioned the occurrence of the smell saying it feels like it originated from burnt-fuel.

She wrote, “Will someone please tell me what this strange burnt-fuel smell in the air is..?? Almost like kerosene or diesel. I’ve been noticing it for several days now, from early morning and at different times through the day. Is anyone else smelling this too? Let me know”.

The actress’ tweet comes amidst the city getting gripped by hazardous AQI in the wake of firecrackers usage. Mumbai witnessed a sharp deterioration in air quality after Diwali, with the city's AQI touching 171 on November 9, up 28% from 134 recorded the day after Diwali last year. Eight monitoring locations entered the 'poor' category, largely generated by firecracker smoke, was identified as the principal pollutant. Health experts have warned that exposure to fine particulate matter can cause respiratory irritation, cardiovascular complications and systemic inflammation, particularly affecting children and senior citizens.

The fire brigade also witnessed an unprecedented workload: between November 6 and November 9, it received 282 fire calls, of which 200 were attributed to firecrackers. On November 8 alone, 137 of 142 fire calls were cracker-related. One person died in a fire incident. Subsequently, BMC banned rockets and aerial firecrackers across Mumbai until November 25.