Solan/Shimla: With Baddi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) slipping to a dangerous 324, the Baddi–Barotiwala–Nalagarh (BBN) industrial corridor has quietly earned an infamous tag—one of India’s most polluted industrial hubs, ranking among the 12 most polluted cities in the country.
The data, drawn from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB), tells a grim story. The air here is no longer just unhealthy; it is hazardous.
What was once projected as Himachal’s growth engine has turned into a slow-burning environmental crisis.
Over the years, the mushrooming of pharmaceutical units, packaging factories, chemical plants, boilers, diesel generators, and unregulated transport has fundamentally altered the region’s landscape.
Green patches have shrunk, hill slopes have been flattened, and the valley now traps pollution like a bowl—especially during winter.
Winter: When the Valley Turns into a Gas Chamber
From November to February, Baddi becomes nearly unlivable. Temperature inversion, low wind speed, and high moisture trap particulate matter close to the ground.
The result is a toxic cocktail of PM2.5, PM10, NOx, SO₂, and volatile organic compounds, visibly hanging over homes, schools, and hospitals.
For locals, winter no longer means cold mornings—it means burning eyes, breathlessness, and persistent coughs. Doctors across Nalagarh and nearby areas report a sharp spike in asthma attacks, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other pulmonary complications during these months, say health officials.
Elderly residents and children are the worst hit, but even healthy adults complain of chest tightness and fatigue after minimal exposure.
> “Patients with asthma simply cannot step out early morning or late evening in winter. The air itself becomes a trigger,” says a senior physician from the region, requesting anonymity.
The irony is stark. While industries expanded rapidly, regulatory oversight failed to keep pace. Many units still rely on fossil-fuel-based boilers, inadequate emission control systems, and poorly maintained chimneys.
Night-time emissions, locals allege, are often higher—when monitoring is lax and enforcement teams are off the roads.
Add to this thousands of diesel trucks, congested internal roads, construction dust, and the open burning of industrial and municipal waste, and Baddi’s air turns lethal. The promise of “pollution under permissible limits” collapses when the AQI consistently remains in the “very poor” to “severe” category.
Life Under the Smokestacks
Residents say the pollution has redefined daily life. Morning walks are abandoned, windows stay shut even in summer, and masks—once a pandemic accessory—are now a daily necessity. Property values have stagnated, and families with chronically ill members are quietly migrating out.
What angers locals most is the sense of environmental injustice. Industries generate revenue, but the health cost is paid by residents—through medical bills, lost workdays, and a shortened quality of life.
Environmental experts warn that without urgent intervention, Baddi risks becoming a permanent health emergency zone.
Solutions exist—cleaner fuels, real-time emission monitoring, strict action against violators, green buffers, and regulated traffic—but they demand political will and proactive role of state regulators and administration.
