Air quality in Ujjain

Does the air in Ujjain have higher levels of pollution?

Ujjain has a large amount of air pollution present in its atmosphere, coming from a variety of different sources. Often compounded by factors such as meteorological or anthropogenic activity, as well as other aspects such as urban topography or the geography of the surrounding region, cities such as Ujjain can see high readings of pollution, as will be cited from the records of past months and years.

Ujjain itself sits in the Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, an Indian state located in the center of the country, with Bhopal being its capital city, along with many other prominent and major cities being found within this state. Ujjain has come in with higher readings of PM2.5 over the last few years, and whilst these are not as disastrously high as some of its country’s counterparts, it still stands to reason that they are high enough to wreak havoc on the health of many of its citizens, particularly those that belong to vulnerable demographics.

These vulnerable groups include people such as young children and the elderly, babies and expectant mothers, as well as those with pre-existing health conditions or compromised immune systems. Those with heightened sensitivity towards chemicals or certain pollutants may also be at greater risk for ill health effects, some of which will be discussed at the end of the article. For those who are either at risk, or wish to keep their exposure to air pollution to a minimum, the use of air quality maps such as the one present on this page, as well as on the AirVisual apps can be of great aid.

In May of 2021, Ujjain was seen coming in with a US AQI reading of 157. This is a sizeable reading that would place the city into the ‘unhealthy’ ratings bracket, indicating that not only would the aforementioned vulnerable groups be at risk, even young and healthy adults may succumb to unpleasant and dangerous health issues. US AQI is a composite measurement that takes into account the levels of various pollutants typically found in the air, and based on the volume of these pollutants present, gives us the US AQI reading.

Some of the main ones used in calculating this number are particulate matter, which is both PM2.5 and PM10 (with the smaller sized PM2.5 being of considerably greater risk to human health), along with ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂).

Other readings of US AQI as taken from both April and May of 2021 include numbers as low as 86, 92 and 98, all of which would be in the higher end of the ‘moderate’ ratings bracket. Further up would be readings of 115, 134 and 140, showing another range within the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ rating. The highest readings came in at 155, 159 and 161. These were all in the unhealthy range, and demonstrate that the air in Ujjain would indeed be permeated with pollution for many days out of each month, only with brief periods of relative respite in which the US AQI levels fall down to moderate readings.

Why does the air in Ujjain have such elevated levels of pollution?

Ujjain has many different sources of pollution present both within the city, and outside of the city limits. Due to certain wind currents, smoke and dust can be blown in from other cities and rural areas, particularly when activities are taking place to produce these large amounts of soot and haze. Some of these activities include the burning of crops, or stubble burning as it is more commonly referred to as in India, or slash and burn farming.

Low income districts as well as rural areas outside of the city cane also produce large amounts of pollution via human activity, with households resorting to traditional methods of cooking or heating by burning material such as dried animal dung, firewood and charcoal. The combustion of these materials can release many different pollutants, with ones such as black carbon, volatile organic compounds and the various oxides of nitrogen (NOx) being let out into the air.

Other major sources include vehicle emissions, along with road repairs or construction sites. Many areas that see the mass disturbance of earth, or have large clouds of fine particles thrown up into the air are prominent sources of extremely harmful particulate matter, and with lack of stringent regulations, can cause the air to become heavily tainted by dust and other fine particle clouds.

At what time of the year is Ujjain’s air at its most polluted?

Looking at the data gathered over 2020, one can see that as a yearly average, Ujjain came in with a PM2.5 reading of 44.6 μg/m³. This placed it into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket (35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ required), as well as putting it in 62^nd place out of all cities ranked in India in 2020, and 145^th place out of all cities ranked worldwide in the same year.

Regarding the most polluted months, Ujjain had some clear cut periods in which the PM2.5 levels were at their highest. January, February, November and December all had the highest readings, indicating that PM2.5 levels would start to rise in November and continue on into the early months of the following year. The most polluted month on record for 2020 was December, coming in with a reading of 67.9 μg/m³.

When does the air quality start to see improvement in Ujjain?

Whilst the first and last two months of the year had the highest readings of air pollution present, in contrast, the middle period of the year had the most appreciable readings of PM2.5 on record.

The months of May through to August came in with comparatively good readings, all sitting within the ‘moderate’ air pollution bracket. August was the cleanest month by a significant amount, coming in with a reading of 22.6 μg/m³.

What are some health risks to be aware of in Ujjain?

Health conditions that may arise due to overexposure to polluted air in Ujjain are ones that typically affect the respiratory tract; however, many other parts of the body are susceptible to ailments of some kind due to the insidious nature of pollution, especially when it comes to miniscule particulate matter.

Dry coughs, chest infections and scarring or damage to the lung tissue are all possible. As well as reducing both life quality and full lung function, scarring of the lung tissue can also lead to further instances of cases such as pneumonia, aggravated forms of asthma and bronchitis. Heart attacks, strokes and ischemic heart disease would all see significant rises, highlighting the ever growing need to control future pollution emissions as efficiently as possible.