Bakloh's Air Quality Is 'Moderate' — But the Data Comes From a Satellite, Not a Ground Station

Tucked into the hills of Chamba District in Himachal Pradesh, Bakloh is a small cantonment town with a long military history. The British established it in the mid-1800s as a base for Gorkha soldiers, and some of the old bungalows, churches, and messes built by British officers still stand today. The town is administered by the Cantonment Board Bakloh, whose president is the Army's Station Commander and whose day-to-day affairs are managed by a Chief Executive Officer from the Indian Defence Estates Service, under the Ministry of Defence.

According to IQAir, an air quality monitoring and technology company based in Switzerland, Bakloh currently has a US AQI of 83. The AQI is a standard scale used to translate complex pollution data into a simple number that tells people how safe or risky the air is to breathe. A score of 83 falls in the 'Moderate' range, which covers readings between 51 and 100 on the US AQI scale.

The main pollutant driving this reading is PM2.5. PM2.5 refers to tiny airborne particles that are 2.5 micrometres or smaller in diameter, so small they can travel deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. IQAir records Bakloh's PM2.5 concentration at 26.2 micrograms per cubic metre of air. To put that in perspective, the World Health Organization, or WHO, recommends an annual average PM2.5 level of no more than 5 micrograms per cubic metre. Bakloh's current reading is 5.2 times that guideline.

There is an important caveat to these numbers. Bakloh has no dedicated ground-level air quality monitoring station. The figures published by IQAir for the town are satellite-derived, meaning they are modelled estimates calculated using data collected by satellites overhead, not direct measurements taken at street level. This makes the readings a useful approximation rather than a precise, verified figure.

IQAir is the firm behind these numbers. Founded in Switzerland, it publishes real-time AQI readings and an annual World Air Quality Report. Its 2024 report drew on data from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across nearly 9,000 locations in 138 countries, making it one of the most comprehensive global air quality assessments available.

To understand Bakloh's reading in a larger context, consider India's national air quality picture. India's average PM2.5 concentration in 2024 was 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre — ten times the WHO's safe limit. The country ranked fifth most polluted in the world that year, behind Chad, Congo, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. A striking 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities are located in India.

For residents and visitors in Bakloh right now, the 'Moderate' rating means air quality is generally acceptable for most healthy adults. However, sensitive groups — including children, the elderly, and people with respiratory or heart conditions — are advised to limit prolonged outdoor physical activity, as even moderate pollution levels can affect them more severely.

IQAir does provide a short-range AQI forecast for Bakloh covering the next three to seven days, which can help people plan outdoor activities. However, the longer-term solution for accurate data would be setting up a proper ground-level monitoring station in the town, as part of India's gradually expanding national air quality network. Until that happens, the satellite estimates remain the best available indicator of the air people in Bakloh are breathing.