Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh · Live air quality
You're looking at Varanasi's air right now — AQI 390, very poor, driven by PM2.5.
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Varanasi Air Quality Index (AQI) Today
Live air quality in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh — real-time AQI, dominant pollutant, PM2.5 & PM10 levels and a plain-English health advisory, computed from CPCB data.
No — Varanasi's AQI is 390 (Very Poor). Avoid outdoor activity, keep windows closed, run a purifier and wear an N95 mask outdoors.
Where 390 sits on the India CPCB scale
Varanasi air quality forecast
23°C · wind 2 km/hLight winds (2 km/h) and calm air are letting pollution build up near the ground.
Hourly AQI forecast for the next 24 hours (CPCB scale).
Cleanest air today is forecast around 23:00 (AQI 200) — a good window for outdoor time.
Forecast modelled by Open-Meteo and converted to the CPCB scale. Forecasts are estimates and can change — our live readings above are measured.
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.
Where the air is cleanest and worst in Varanasi right now
A live comparison of Varanasi's monitoring areas — the cleaner areas are the better choice for outdoor time right now, while the worst are best avoided for exercise. Each figure is a real station reading, not an estimate.
Cleaner areas — where to go
- 280Ardhali Bazar, VaranasiPoor
- 312IESD Banaras Hindu University, VaranasiVery Poor
Worst areas — where to avoid
- 390Bhelupur, VaranasiVery Poor
- 359Maldahiya, VaranasiVery Poor
Monitoring stations in Varanasi
4 live CPCB stations, ranked worst air first. Each station's AQI is its own highest pollutant sub-index.
| Station | AQI | Category | PM2.5 | PM10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhelupur, Varanasi - UPPCB | 390 | Very Poor | 237 | 254 |
| Maldahiya, Varanasi - UPPCB | 359 | Very Poor | 196 | 205 |
| IESD Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - UPPCB | 312 | Very Poor | 134 | 163 |
| Ardhali Bazar, Varanasi - UPPCB | 280 | Poor | 114 | 78 |
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 353 · max 390Hourly AQI recorded each hour by DailyAQI (local time). Fills to a rolling 24 hours.
7-day AQI trend
Daily peak AQI recorded by DailyAQI since tracking began, coloured by category. History grows to a rolling 30 days.
Air quality calendar
Worst recorded day: 2026-11-07 (AQI 390) · cleanest: 2026-10-30 (AQI 64)
Each cell is a day, coloured by that day’s peak AQI band. Only days we have recorded are shown; the grid fills out over the month.
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What Very Poor air means for you
May cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure; effects more pronounced for people with lung and heart disease.
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 Varanasi
This page tracks the Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Air Quality Index using measurements from 4 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitoring stations, published through the Government of India's open-data portal. Right now Varanasi's AQI is 390 (Very Poor), with PM2.5 the dominant pollutant. The AQI is a single number from 0 to 500 that summarises how polluted the air is and what it means for health, built from pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone and sulphur dioxide — the index reflects whichever is worst at the time.
How Varanasi's air changes through the year
As a North Indian city, Varanasi sees the country's sharpest seasonal swing. From roughly late October to February, cool and still air with temperature inversions traps emissions close to the ground, and smoke from post-harvest crop-residue burning in Punjab and Haryana — together with festival-season activity around Diwali — pushes the AQI to its yearly peak. The monsoon (June to September) usually brings the cleanest air as rain washes particulates out, with spring and early autumn sitting in between.
What drives air pollution in Varanasi
The main contributors are vehicle exhaust, road and construction dust, industry and power generation, household cooking and heating fuel, and — in the cooler months — seasonal crop-residue burning across the surrounding farmland. Because the region is landlocked, there is little sea breeze to flush pollutants away, so they accumulate night after night during still winter spells.
Cleaner and worse areas within Varanasi
Air quality is not uniform across a city. Among Varanasi's monitoring areas right now, the air is cleanest around Ardhali Bazar, Varanasi and worst around Bhelupur, Varanasi — a reminder that local traffic, industry and construction can make a real difference over just a few kilometres. The live area-by-area comparison above shows where to go and where to avoid at this moment.
Best time to visit Varanasi for cleaner air
If cleaner air matters for your visit, the smog season from November to January has Varanasi's worst air of the year, while the monsoon and the weeks around it, along with spring, are usually far better. Whatever the month, check the live reading on this page before heading out, and pack a well-fitting N95 or FFP2 mask for high-pollution days. Nearby cities with comparatively cleaner air right now include Prayagraj, Agra, Kanpur.
Staying safe in Varanasi's air
When the AQI is in the Good or Satisfactory range, outdoor activity is fine for almost everyone. From Moderate upward, sensitive groups — children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma or heart disease — should pace themselves outdoors, and once the air turns Poor or worse it is sensible for everyone to limit strenuous outdoor exertion, keep windows closed, run an air purifier indoors and wear a well-fitting mask outside. This is general information rather than medical advice. We only display a number when a recent station reading exists — if you see "data updating", we are waiting on a fresh value rather than showing an estimate.
Air quality near Varanasi
All Uttar Pradesh cities →The nearest monitored cities to Varanasi, with their live AQI — tap any card for its full report.
Protect your health — air quality guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the AQI in Varanasi today?
The current Air Quality Index in Varanasi is 390 (Very Poor) on the Indian CPCB scale, with PM2.5 as the dominant pollutant.
Is it safe to go outside in Varanasi today?
No — Varanasi's AQI is 390 (Very Poor). Avoid outdoor activity, keep windows closed, run a purifier and wear an N95 mask outdoors.
What is the main pollutant in Varanasi?
Today the dominant pollutant driving Varanasi's AQI is PM2.5. The full pollutant breakdown (PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, O₃, CO, SO₂) is listed above.
How is Varanasi'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.
What is the air quality forecast for Varanasi tomorrow?
Air in Varanasi is forecast to improve tomorrow to around AQI 267 (Poor), down from about 315 today. Forecasts are modelled estimates (Open-Meteo) and can change.