Juhi Chawla asks about burnt-fuel smell in Mumbai air, sparking debate online

Mumbai residents are bearing the brunt of air pollution these days. Even as the deterioration in the city's air quality after Diwali was being discussed, a strange smell has now spread through the air. For the past few days, the air in Mumbai has carried a smell like burnt fuel. Juhi Chawla raised the matter in a post, and people in Mumbai have since begun talking about the smell.

Chawla shared the post on a social media platform on November 12. She wrote asking whether anyone could say what was causing the strange smell of burnt fuel in the air. According to her, the smell is like that of kerosene or diesel burning. She wrote that she had been noticing it for several days and that it persisted through the day, from early morning to different times of the day. She also asked people in Mumbai whether they could smell it too.

Chawla raised the question at a time when air pollution is already a talking point in Mumbai. The city's air quality fell after Diwali. On November 9, Mumbai's Air Quality Index (AQI) was 171, against 134 a year earlier. Air quality was recorded in the poor category at eight air quality monitoring stations in the city.

Firecrackers during Diwali also led to a rise in fire incidents. Between November 6 and 9, the Mumbai Fire Brigade received a total of 282 fire-related calls, of which 200 were linked to firecrackers. Of 142 calls on November 8 alone, 137 were for fires caused by firecrackers. The actual cause of the strange smell Chawla described is not yet clear. It is also not certain that the smell is due to pollution alone.

As soon as Chawla's post appeared, people on social media expressed anger. One person wrote, "Madam, development is being roasted, this is pollution." Another said it was the smell of the development being carried out by Modi. A third wrote that if she could not speak against it, she should stay quiet, and that this was the smell of the "achhe din" she had wanted.