Written By: Dr. Shweta Garg | Updated : January 12, 2026 10:25 PM IST
Medically Verified By: Dr. Shweta Garg
Air pollution is a silent killer that has chokehold many parts of the world, including India. It is a concerning public health crisis that affects 9 out of 10 people, who breed air containing level of pollutant that exceeds the World Health Organisation (WHO) limits. The global health organization estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air. And breathing poor air quality can lead to diseases and respiratory infections including pneumonia. Here are five countries pollutants that are harmful for health.
Chhatarpur, which is a small town in Madhya Pradesh, has AQI ranging from 130-150 which comes in the range of unhealthy for sensitive people.
From this we can think that increasing AQI is becoming the major concern for health in small cities and towns as well.
We often say that air pollution is more in big metropolitan cities but we also need to know that worsening AQI is the problem of small cities also nowadays.
In metros the pollution is visible externally also ,so we say that it's more here .in small towns and cities though pollution may not be visible externally to that extent but it's harmful effects are no less .
The air quality has deteriorated,it's now nation wide issue ,not confined to urban places only.
Increasing vehicular traffic,construction activities,improper disposal of waste ,increased factories all contribute to increased AQI.
Air pollution is also increasing in small cities and towns causing health crisis .
We have always thought that pollution means only big urban cities but recently I living in chhatarpur a small town witnessed smog -filled winters which means increasing AQI means unhealthy air .small cities and towns are also now facing the silent and rapidly growing burden of air pollution.
As a doctor working at the district hospital,I am seeing increased number of patients suffering from respiratory and heart diseases due to poor air quality.
People are less aware in smaller towns.
It's Air Quality Index which indicates the quality of air whether healthy or unhealthy
Air pollution is becoming common in small towns and cities also why ?
The things are changing rapidly like increased construction activities,increased vehicular traffic,improper open burning of waste and use of biomass fuels for cooking are responsible for bad quality of air
In smaller cities due to lack of strict administrative regulations,pollution sources are not being checked strictly affecting children,elderly and people with pre existing health conditions.
Adverse effects of deteriorating Air Quality:
The effects of air pollution are not always immediate but cause long term bad effects.
Increasing number of patients with respiratory problems are visiting the hospitals for
Even sometimes air pollution in the long term can cause lung cancers also and which are left undiagnosed till the advanced stages due to lack of regular health check ups.
Everyone is at the risk of adverse effects of air pollution but particularly children,pregnant women and persons with pre existing respiratory or cardiac diseases are more at risk
Lack of Awareness and Delayed actions taken. Actually we take air for granted.We least think that air too can get unhealthy and polluted and affect our health.
We often talk about infections, nutrition,child &maternal health but we least talk about environmental health.
Health care professionals can play an important role in educating the people about good quality air importance along with the health
