Vineeta Singh lashes out at authorities as Mumbai AQI worsens, calls for China-like measures to control pollution
Vineeta Singh pointed out that Mumbai AQI had crossed 160 on Thursday morning. An AQI of 160 falls under the ‘moderate’ category. She highlighted the risks of air pollution.
Shark Tank India judge and SUGAR Cosmetics CEO Vineeta Singh on Thursday raised concerns about the alarming dip in the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Mumbai and called for strict measures to tackle rising air pollution in the city.
Citing a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Singh said that one in nine people are at risk of developing cancer in India.
“In India, one in nine people are likely to develop cancer in his/her lifetime. Lung and breast cancers were the leading sites of cancer in males and females, respectively. Among the childhood (0-14 yr) cancers, lymphoid leukaemia (boys: 29.2% and girls: 24.2%) was the leading site. The incidence of cancer cases is estimated to increase by 12.8 per cent in 2025 as compared to 2020,” she said in an Instagram post, calling it a “morning post run rant”.
She urged citizens to raise their voices against the worsening Mumbai AQI. Air pollution has been directly related as a cause of lung cancer among people.
Mumbai AQI: Vineeta Singh calls for measures
In the video accompanied by the post, Vineeta Singh highlighted that Mumbai AQI had crossed 160 on Thursday morning.
“When I went out today, I saw that there were little school kids who were standing at bus stops, there were old people who were walking, my own son's gone for a school picnic, there were people working out – when you work out you are actually doubling your breaths per minute and your exposure is much higher,” she said.
Underscoring the Mumbai air pollution crisis, she questioned authorities and asked if measures will be taken only after Mumbai AQI crosses the 200 mark, falling into the ‘poor’ category.
She urged authorities to implement measures to control Mumbai air pollution, suggesting to halt construction for a few months.
“At least have strict dust and pollution control measures at these pollution sites just like China and Korea,” she said.
Singh also suggested cloud seeding, citing Mumbai's high humidity levels.
Mumbai AQI today
Mumbai AQI on Thursday improved slightly to the moderate category after falling into the poor category a day ago.
As per data from the Sameer app of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Mumbai AQI stood at 172 at 2 PM. As many as six monitoring stations recorded ‘poor’ AQI. Mulund West took the worst hit, with a reading of 255.
According to CPCB standards, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’ and 401–500 ‘severe’.