Mumbai: climate, natural phenomenon
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Micro-Climate Zones, Urban Heat Islands
As of 2025
Chittaranjan Tembhekar, March 30, 2025: The Times of India
Mumbai : Increasingly dense concrete jungles and depleting greenery in Mumbai have affected each suburb differently. If you travel from Ghatkopar to Powai, you can feel a marked dip in temperature — it is 10 to 13 degree Celsius lower. Urban experts say unplanned concretisation with less scope for greenery in some places; and more open spaces, water harvesting and green buildings in others will eventually lead to the creation of man-made concrete deserts within every city.
A new study showed a significant temperature variation between hotter suburbs and cooler pockets across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in March 2025. The study by Respirer Living Sciences (RLS) revealed temperature variations across Mumbai, pointing to intensifying Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Between March 1 and 22, suburban areas such as Vasai West and Ghatkopar experienced average temperatures of 33.5°C and 33.3°C, respectively, while Powai — one of the city’s greener and less densely built areas — registered a much cooler average of 20.4°C. This represents a striking 13.1-degree difference within the same city.
“Increasingly, we are witnessing micro-climate zones forming within cities like Mumbai,” said Ronak Sutaria, CEO of Respirer Living Sciences, a climate-tech startup. “These temperature differences translate into higher heat stress and related health problems,” he added.
According to data from 22 CPCBstations, Vasai West topped the list with an average temperature of 33.5°C, followed closely by Ghatkopar at 33.3°C, and Colaba (South Mumbai) at 32.4°C. In stark contrast, Powai recorded 20.4°C. Other cooler areas included Chakala (Andheri East) at 23.4°C and Chembur at 25.5°C. “It’s high time our development control rules mandate more trees proportionate to additional construction area,” said urban planner Nitin Killawala.
“We can’t treat Mumbai as a single thermal unit. Mitigation effortsmust be customised based on hyperlocal data,” said Sutaria.
“ Northern Lights”
1872
May 7, 2023: The Times of India
Quite amazingly, northern lights seem to have appeared in skies over Mumbai (then Bombay) during an intense geomagnetic storm in 1872. In a paper, Chanchal Uberoi, retired professor of mathematics at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, quotes from The Times of India dated February 6, 1872, that reported this unprecedented spectacle. “Will it surprise our readers to learn that the Aurora Borealis was plainly visible in Bombay Sunday last?. . . After sunset on Sunday, the aurora was slightly visible, and constantly kept changing colour, becoming deeply violet, when it was intense about 3 o’clock on Monday morning. It was distinctly visible until sunrise on Monday. . . All telegraphic communication was stopped for some hours,” the report stated.
