Air quality in Pali

What are the pollution levels like in Pali?

Pali is a city found in Rajasthan state in India, having the nickname of being ‘the industrial city’ pertaining to its large amount of factories, industrial areas and manufacturing plants. This alludes to the poorer levels of air quality seen in the city throughout the year, both in more recent times as well as years past. Many industrial processing plants can have a terrible effect on the quality of a cities air, along with many other contributing factors, which will be discussed in the following question.

In short, Pali has some less than desirable levels of air pollution that it could certainly stand to improve upon in the coming years. Of note is that from the year 2018 to 2020, a massive difference was shown, perhaps hinting at a future for the city in which cleaner air quality levels are a more achievable target. In 2018, Pali came in with a PM2.5 reading of 82.3 μg/m³, placing it high in the ‘unhealthy’ ratings bracket, which requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 55.5 to 150.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such.

In 2019 Pali came in with a much improved but still elevated level of PM2.5, presenting with 54.6 μg/m³, sitting at the absolute highest end of the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, which also requires its own entry at 35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³, showing that in 2019, Pali just eked its way into the bracket, being only a fraction away from moving up to the ‘unhealthy’ rating, as was seen in 2018.

In 2020, Pali came in with a further improved PM2.5 reading of 46.4 μg/m³. This also placed it within the same air quality bracket as 2019, albeit with a decent improvement. This reading of 46.4 μg/m³ also placed Pali in 59^th place out of all cities ranked in India over 2020, as well as 133^rd place out of all cities ranked worldwide in the same year. As such, even though great improvements were made, Pali is still a city that sits in the upper echelons of most polluted cities seen worldwide.

Preventative measures such as the wearing of fine particle filtering masks or avoiding outdoor activity, particularly if it is strenuous, become of the utmost importance, especially during bouts of high pollution. Such spikes in pollution levels can be followed via the air quality map present on this page, as well as through the AirVisual app which can provide individuals with hourly updates on the various levels of pollutants in the air, PM2.5, ozone (O₃) and US AQI all included.

Why are there elevated pollution levels in Pali?

Pali has many different sources of air pollution coming together to form the compounded levels seen on record. In Mid-May of 2021, Pali came in with a US AQI reading of 104, placing it within the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, indicating that the air would be somewhat permeated with amounts of smoke, haze and other contaminating materials, along with clouds of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particles.

US AQI is a composite measure of the air pollution levels, with its number based off of the volume of main pollutants typically found in a cities air. It includes some of the already mentioned ones such as ozone and particulate matter, along with nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). The levels of these pollutants in the air are then used to calculate the US AQI.

Previous days on record in 2021 show that Pali can be subject to more extreme spikes in air pollution, with readings going well up into the ‘unhealthy’ ratings bracket, almost on a daily basis over the months of both April and May. Many readings on record include elevated numbers such as 143, 146 and 149, all in the upper reaches of the unhealthy for sensitive groups bracket, and many others such as 164, 167 and 172, all of which are deemed as unhealthy as per the pollution ratings system.

In order to reach such high levels of air pollution, the numerous sources that put out constant streams of chemical compounds and hazardous particulate matter would come from ones such as the many factories, power plants and industrial facilities within the city. Other sources stem from anthropogenic activity, particularly in lower income districts as well as being introduced to the city from surrounding rural areas, with clouds of smoke being blown in by the wind.

These sources often come from people relying on traditional methods of both cooking and heating by burning materials such as animal dung, firewood and charcoal, all of which can release many dangerous pollutants, especially when produced from countless households. Other sources of note are construction sites, vehicular emissions, and road repairs, all of which can produce their own pollutants and fine particle contamination.

When does air quality become worse in Pali?

Observing the air quality data collected over 2020, one can see that Pali had a fairly consistent level of air pollution throughout the entire year, which differs from many other cities in India and indeed other countries in the region, which typically see very clear cut high and low periods of PM2.5 readings.

For the months that can be singled out however, January, February, May, October and November all had the highest readings of pollution, showing the sporadic nature of PM2.5 readings occurring in Pali. The most polluted month out of all of these was February, with a reading of 57.8 μg/m³.

When does the air quality clear up in Pali?

As mentioned above, when looking at the air quality data from times past, it seems that pollution levels are somewhat relentless in Pali, never having a period in which they drop by a significant amount. However, if one were to pick out the cleanest months of the year, March, April, July and August all came in with the lowest readings of PM2.5, with August having the cleanest reading at 35.6 μg/m³.

What are some of the health problems that come from breathing from pollution in Pali?

Health problems that would arise from being exposed to excessive amounts of air pollution in Pali would be ones such as pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema and asthma, all conditions that fall under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) bracket. Other symptoms would be irritation to both the skin and mucous membranes, with the skin being highly sensitive towards certain chemical pollutants, particularly in some individuals.

Incidences of psoriasis, acne, eczema and atopic dermatitis may present themselves, along with skin cancer. Cancer of the lungs would also rise dramatically along with pollution levels, showing the ever present need to improve the cities air quality and thus the life of its citizens.