Air quality in Dewas

Does Dewas have badly polluted air?

Dewas is a city located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, within the Malwa region, a historical area that sits atop a formerly volcanic plateau. In regards to its air quality, Dewas does indeed have some poor records of air pollution present, and continues to do so well into 2021, with some high readings of US AQI coming up in the months of both April and May.

US AQI refers to a unit of measurement that is calculated from the various pollutants found in the air, typically the most important and prominent ones. Some of these pollutants included in calculating the US AQI figure include nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and ozone (O₃). As well as this, the two types of particulate matter are also involved, namely PM2.5 and PM10.

PM2.5 belongs to the ultrafine particle family, being 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, whilst PM10 tends to refer to larger and more coarse particles. Out of the two, the much smaller PM2.5 (which can go down to sizes many microns smaller) is of far greater danger to the health of those who breathe it, both due to its size as well as the large variety of hazardous materials it is comprised of, some of them being carcinogenic or even cytotoxic. Whilst PM2.5 is used as a component in the calculation of US AQI levels, it is also a prominent measure of pollution in its own right, often used to calculate the yearly averages of air pollution present within a city.

Observing some of the US AQI levels on record, in mid-May of 2021 Dewas was seen with a reading of 68, indicating a ‘moderate’ level of air pollution. Whilst this is not an overtly bad reading by any means, it is not fully indicative of the higher pollution readings that were on record in the months and years prior. Air pollution is a fluctuating occurrence, and in certain cities it can go down to extremely clean and almost none existent levels before shooting back up again, whilst other cities may see a high level of US AQI consistently, depending on the nature of their pollution sources.

Other readings of US AQI on record before the above mentioned figure of 68 were ones such as 117,119 and 120. All of these fell into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, which as the name indicates, presents some danger for vulnerable people within the population. In mid-April, a high of 150 was seen, which would place the air quality level in the higher end of the aforementioned ratings group. Of note is that these readings were taken in months where the air pollution levels are actually not at their highest, with the more polluted ones coming during certain periods of the year, which will be mentioned in the following questions.

What are some health problems related to breathing polluted air in Dewas?

Health issues that may arise as a result of consistent exposure to smoke, haze, smog and irritating particles can range from superficial conditions that can clear up when exposure is lessened or outright halted, all the way over to terminal health conditions that can shorten people’s life expectancies by a significant amount.

Some of these short term ones may be conditions such as shortness of breath, inflammation of the lining of the lungs and respiratory tract, as well as chest pain or infections, along with dry coughs that can persist when one comes into contact with large amounts of pollution. Other more serious respiratory issues may be ones such as pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema and aggravated forms of asthma, all of which fall under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) bracket.

What are some of the more prominent causes of pollution in Dewas?

Some of the main sources of pollution in Dewas, as well as the entire state of Madhya Pradesh, are ones such as vehicle emissions and fumes, as well as further emissions from factories, power plants and other similar industrial areas, many of which utilize large amounts of fossil fuels such as coal or diesel to operate.

Large clouds of particulate matter can be generated by wind storms, as well as emanating from areas such as road repairs, construction sites and even poorly paved roads. With a constant stream of traffic, finely ground particles of gravel, sand and silica can be whipped up into the atmosphere, causing a myriad of further health problems when inhaled.

Has the air pollution level improved in Dewas over the last few years?

Observing the PM2.5 count taken in Dewas over the last few years, one can see that the city has made an improvement from 2018 to 2019, but then actually got ever so slightly worse between 2019 and 2020. However, the overall improvement between 2018 and 2020 was a far more prominent improvement that showed that Dewas has in fact seen decent steps in the right direction.

In 2018 Dewas came in with a PM2.5 reading of 48.2 μg/m³m, placing it into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, which requires a reading between 35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such. 2019 presented with a reading of 38.5 μg/m³, a significant improvement and coming in on the lower end of the unhealthy for sensitive groups bracket.

2020 then went up by a small amount, coming in at 39.2 μg/m³. This reading placed Dewas in 81^st place out of all cities ranked in India for that year, as well as 210^th place out of all cities ranked worldwide.

When does Dewas have its highest level of air pollution present?

Observing the months and their PM2.5 count on record over 2020, one can see that the months at the very start of the year as well as at the end came in with the highest readings. January, February and April all came in with readings of 48.9 μg/m³, 42.2 μg/m³ and 48.5 μg/m³.

The months of September through to December were also showing elevations in their PM2.5 count, coming in with readings of 37.3 μg/m³, 45.4 μg/m³, 54.7 μg/m³ and 53.5 μg/m³. This indicates a pattern whereby the pollution levels start to rise at the end of the year and then stay elevated until the early months of the following year. November had the highest reading of air pollution over 2020, with its reading of 54.7 μg/m³, followed closely by December and then January.