Ubud, Gianyar, and Bali recently occupied the fifth position with the worst air condition, according to the IQAir.com website, recorded on Wednesday, the 16th of August, 2023. Ubud’s air quality was at 155 US air quality index (AQI) at 9:00 a.m. WITA. Meanwhile, Denpasar is still in the green zone, with air quality in the healthy category. Denpasar managed to stay in the green zone for 12 hours that day.
IQAir.com recorded Ubud air quality at 155 US AQI on Wednesday, the 16th of August 2023, at 09.00 a.m. WITA. At that hour, Ubud’s air quality was considered close to the poor level of air quality in DKI Jakarta, with a 158 US AQI.
According to the detikBali report, on Thursday, the 17th of August 2023, the air pollution in Ubud recorded on the site was varied. At 14.00 WITA, air quality was recorded quite well, with an air index of 25 AQI US. Whereas previously, at 11.30 WITA, it was recorded at a point of 62 AQI US.
Gianyar Regent I Made Mahayastra admitted that he was still monitoring the accuracy of the air condition in the Ubud area recorded by IQAir.com. According to him, no factories in Ubud have the potential to damage the air quality in Ubud that fast. “I admit that there are often traffic jams in Ubud, so it is prone to vehicle pollution. However, Ubud’s pollution should be much lower than Denpasar City, where the volume of vehicles are much higher.”
“The traffic in Ubud is due to small roads and too many vehicles passing by. Ubud is known to have traffic jams every day because of the large number of tourists who want to spend their time in Ubud,” said Mahayastra, who was interviewed after Thursday’s 17th of August ceremony.
Mahayastra explained that the Ubud area is beautiful, with many green open spaces. Rice fields and trees thrive in every area of the regency. Around the Ubud area, there are also clear river streams and beautiful forests, so Mahayastra himself admitted that he was confused about how the air pollution conditions could be recorded so close to the poor air pollution in Jakarta.
“If there is a barometer indicating bad air quality, we will find out the cause, and then we will discuss it with those responsible,” added Mahayastra.
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