Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Live air quality
You're looking at Chennai's air right now — AQI 144, moderate, driven by PM2.5.
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Chennai Air Quality Index (AQI) Today
Live air quality in Chennai, Tamil Nadu — real-time AQI, dominant pollutant, PM2.5 & PM10 levels and a plain-English health advisory, computed from CPCB data.
Mostly — Chennai's AQI is 144 (Moderate). Sensitive groups (asthma, children, older adults) should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
Where 144 sits on the India CPCB scale
What you can do outside right now
General guidance by AQI band. Sensitive groups should act one level earlier.
Live pollutant levels
Each pollutant's 24-hour concentration is converted to a CPCB sub-index; the city AQI is the highest of them (the dominant pollutant). Bars show the sub-index out of 500.
What this air does to your body
Illustrative equivalences from published research (Berkeley Earth; Air Quality Life Index, University of Chicago). Not a medical assessment of your personal risk.
Monitoring stations in Chennai
3 live CPCB stations, ranked worst air first. Each station's AQI is its own highest pollutant sub-index.
| Station | AQI | Category | PM2.5 | PM10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manali, Chennai - CPCB | 144 | Moderate | 73 | 91 |
| Velachery Res. Area, Chennai - CPCB | 102 | Moderate | 32 | 101 |
| Manali Village, Chennai - TNPCB | 67 | Satisfactory | 40 | 55 |
Source: CPCB continuous ambient air-quality monitoring stations via data.gov.in. Station-level values are the latest hourly averages.
24-hour AQI graph
min 144 · max 174Hourly AQI recorded each hour by DailyAQI (local time). Fills to a rolling 24 hours.
7-day AQI trend
We're recording daily readings for this city — the 7-day trend chart fills in over the coming days as history accumulates.
Air quality calendar
A colour-coded calendar of daily air quality builds here as we record each day — check back as the month fills in.
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What Moderate air means for you
May cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma, and to children and older adults.
Health guidance per CPCB National Air Quality Index bands. Informational only — not medical advice.
India's metro cities right now
AQI categories (India scale)
| AQI | Category | Associated health impact |
|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good | Air quality is considered satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk. |
| 51–100 | Satisfactory | Acceptable air quality; minor breathing discomfort possible for unusually sensitive people. |
| 101–200 | Moderate | May cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma, and to children and older adults. |
| 201–300 | Poor | May cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. |
| 301–400 | Very Poor | May cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure; effects more pronounced for people with lung and heart disease. |
| 401–500 | Severe | Affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases; avoid outdoor activity. |
Monitoring location
Approximate location of the monitoring station(s) feeding this reading. Map © OpenStreetMap.
About air quality in Chennai
This page tracks the Chennai Air Quality Index using measurements from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitoring stations, published through the Government of India's open-data portal. The AQI is a single number from 0 to 500 that summarises how polluted the air is and what it means for health, based on the concentrations of key pollutants — fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ground-level ozone (O₃), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂).
Air quality in Chennai changes through the day and across seasons. Levels are typically worse in the early morning and late evening when cooler, calmer air traps pollutants near the ground, and across North India they rise sharply in winter (roughly October to February) when temperature inversions, crop-residue burning and festival activity combine. Summer and the monsoon usually bring cleaner air as rain washes out particulates and stronger winds disperse them. Checking the current reading before outdoor exercise, a school run or a commute helps you decide whether to adjust timing, wear a mask, or keep windows closed.
We only display a number when a recent station reading exists — if you see "data updating", it means we are waiting on a fresh value rather than showing an estimate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the AQI in Chennai today?
The current Air Quality Index in Chennai is 144 (Moderate) on the Indian CPCB scale, with PM2.5 as the dominant pollutant.
Is it safe to go outside in Chennai today?
Mostly — Chennai's AQI is 144 (Moderate). Sensitive groups (asthma, children, older adults) should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
What is the main pollutant in Chennai?
Today the dominant pollutant driving Chennai's AQI is PM2.5. The full pollutant breakdown (PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, O₃, CO, SO₂) is listed above.
How is Chennai's AQI calculated?
Each pollutant's 24-hour concentration is converted to a sub-index using CPCB breakpoints; the city AQI is the highest sub-index. See our methodology.