Air pollution worsens in Mumbai, before-after pictures show the city enveloped in smog

Viral post shows before and after pictures of the air pollution in Mumbai

Mumbai’s worsening air pollution has now come to light and has also become starkly visible in a series of viral before-and-after photographs that have now surfaced online, sharply showing major city landmarks disappearing behind a blanket of smog.

A social media post that featured the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, which was clearly visible in October 2025, now shows that it is now almost entirely obscured just a month later.

“A month apart from the same viewpoint in Bandra. The change says everything,” the X user wrote while sharing the images.

The same social media account posted a photograph of the Mazgaon area, where Atal Setu and the surrounding hills were once visible.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the locality, the user claimed, rose sharply from 54 on October 26 to 196 on November 18 and further to 255 by November 26, leaving the area enveloped in thick smog.

A month apart from the same viewpoint in Bandra. The change says everything.#pollution #AQI pic.twitter.com/epHAcDfoal

— Mumbai Heritage (@mumbaiheritage) November 27, 2025

Another user shared a view from Malabar Hills, where the Arabian Sea was clearly visible on October 11 but not on November 23.

Mumbai recorded a hazardous AQI of 281 on Friday, with several neighbourhoods among the worst-hit.

The Wadala Truck Terminal registered a severe AQI of 395, followed by Colaba at 317 and Chakala at 318. Worli and the Bandra-Kurla Complex reported levels of 310 each.

Kandivali East logged the lowest for the day at 130, still in the ‘poor’ category. Other suburbs also recorded high pollution levels - Powai at 200, Malad West at 210, Parel Bhoiwada at 220 and Mulund West at 237.

The deteriorating air quality came under scrutiny in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday during the hearing of petitions filed in 2023 on Mumbai’s pollution crisis.

The bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad questioned why the air quality had been worsening “for a long time”.

The state government attributed part of the smog to the recent eruption of Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano, which sent ash 14 km into the atmosphere.

The court, however, was unconvinced, noting that Mumbai’s air had been extremely poor even before the eruption. “Even before this eruption, if one stepped out, visibility was poor beyond 500 metres,” the bench observed.

Experts have also said the volcanic ash did not significantly impact air quality in India, including in cities where pollution levels were already high.