Deepika Padukone says Mumbai and its kids are ‘choking’, asks BMC for help to tackle alarming 153 AQI: ‘How is this okay?’ | Bollywood News
3 min readMumbaiMar 12, 2026 06:42 PM As the Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in Mumbai witnessed a spike on Thursday, Deepika Padukone couldn’t help but flag the alarming level of pollution in the city on social media. She took to her Instagram Stories to share a picture of India’s west coast map showing that Mumbai’s AQI stood at 153 on Thursday.
“The city (and its children) are choking! How is this okay!?,” she wrote along with the map. The actor also tagged the official Instagram handles of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and its Health Department, asking for help with a folded hands emoji. The AQI of 153 falls in the “unhealthy” category.
Deepika Padukone is not the first actor to flag the deteriorating air quality in Mumbai. Last month, Ghoomer actor Saiyami Kher took to her Instagram handle and wrote, “I started running a decade ago. Every morning, I’d find myself on Carter Road, chasing the ocean breeze. That wind is what made me fall in love with this city and running. I want to feel it again. And dystopian as it is, I put on a mask before lacing my shoes. It took me back to the pandemic. Except there’s no virus in the air endangering our life. The air itself could kill us.”
Fukrey actor Richa Chadha has also expressed her concern over the alarming AQI in Mumbai on multiple occasions. Calling it a “manmade tragedy,” she urged more prominent voices to speak up in favour of a cleaner and safer city. Deepika, an advocate of mental health, has also brought attention to the issue of physical health now, flagging the AQI levels to the Mumbai authorities.
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Deepika Padukone, whose Instagram display picture reads, “In my mom era,” became welcome her daughter Dua Padukone in 2024. Post that, she’s been selective about her work. She has Atlee’s action thriller opposite Allu Arjun and Siddharth Anand’s action thriller King opposite Shah Rukh Khan in her kitty.
