India monthly ambient air quality snapshot: February 2024

Authors: Manoj Kumar N and Sunil Dahiya

Key highlights

  • In February 2024, 160 out of 253 cities with more than 80% of the days with continuous ambient air quality monitoring station (CAAQMS) data recorded PM2.5 concentration below India’s daily National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) but only one complied with the  World Health Organization’s daily safe guideline concentration of 15 µg/m³.
    • The monthly average PM2.5 levels in 96 National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) cities surpassed the WHO’s daily guideline for PM2.5 in February 2024. Only 60 cities met India’s daily National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
    • Among the 157 non-NCAP cities with over 80% of days with CAAQMS data, only one city—Satna (Madhya Pradesh)—reported monthly average PM2.5 levels below the WHO daily guideline. 100 cities adhered to the daily NAAQS, while the air quality in the remaining 57 cities was poorer than the NAAQS.
  • In February 2024, there was a significant improvement in air quality, with 36 cities falling into the “Good” category, marking a notable increase from 22 cities in the category in the previous month. The “Satisfactory” category also saw a substantial rise to 124 cities from 77 cities in January. Conversely, the count of cities in the “Moderate” category decreased to 66 for February from 84 in January. Notable declines were observed in the “Poor” and “Very Poor” categories, with 24 and 3 cities respectively, down from 39 and 31 in January. The drop in pollutant concentrations is attributed to improving wind speed and rising temperatures, along with other meteorological factors, and some reduction in emissions across different cities.
  • Byrnihat ranked as the most polluted city in India in February 2024, recording a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 183 µg/m³, surpassing the daily NAAQS each day of the month. Among India’s top 10 polluted cities, four were in Bihar, three in Uttar Pradesh, two in Assam, and one in Rajasthan.
  • Delhi was India’s 14th most polluted city in February 2024, which recorded the lowest PM2.5 concentrations since 2016 but still were nearly twice the daily NAAQS and seven times the WHO daily guideline levels.
  • A total of 59 cities were featured in the daily most polluted cities list in February 2024. 23 out of those made an appearance at least five times over the 29-day period, topped by Byrnihat in Meghalaya/Assam that featured the most times (27 days), followed by Araria (18 days), Nalbari (14 days), Hanumangarh (13 days), Greater Noida (12 days), Muzaffarnagar (12 days), Buxar (11 days), and Sri Ganganagar (10 days).
  • The cities featured in the daily top 10 most polluted cities list in India were spread across 15 states and union territories (UT).
  • Only 21 out of the 59 cities featured in the daily top 10 most polluted cities list during February 2024 are part of NCAP, while the remaining 38 cities still don’t have any action plan to reduce hazardous air pollution concentrations.

Ambient air quality monitoring network

Only 101 of the 131 non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) have a CAAQMS installed as of February 2024, leaving 30 other identified NCAP cities without any transparent information on real-time pollution levels in these cities.

One new CAAQMS was installed in Biwadi city in Rajasthan, during February 2024. This installation represents the second CAAQMS in Biwadi city.

Out of the total of 281 cities with CAAQMS installed as of February 2024, only 253 cities had more than 80% of the days in February with data availability, leaving 17 cities with less than 80% days with data and eleven cities where no data was collected even though CAAQMS were installed in those cities.

NCAP cities

In February 2024, the monthly average PM2.5 levels in 96 NCAP cities surpassed the WHO’s daily guideline for PM2.5. Only 60 cities met India’s daily National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), with the remaining 36 cities recording PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the NAAQS; among these,  Byrnihat on the Meghalaya/Assam border recorded PM2.5 levels three times higher than the daily recommended standard of 60 µg/m³.

Non-NCAP cities

Among the 157 non-NCAP cities with over 80% of days with CAAQMS data in February 2024, only one city—Satna (Madhya Pradesh)—reported monthly average PM2.5 levels below the WHO daily guideline. 

100 cities adhered to the daily NAAQS, while the air quality in the remaining 57 cities was poorer than the NAAQS. Among these, two cities were at least twice as polluted as the daily NAAQS.


Air pollution levels and National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

NCAP cities

In February 2024, only nineteen out of the 96 NCAP cities achieved full compliance with the daily NAAQS for PM2.5 concentration, while four cities consistently failed to meet this standard throughout the month.

Additionally, 80 out of the 96 NCAP cities consistently recorded PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO-prescribed daily guideline levels every day of the month.

Non-NCAP cities

Among the 157 non-NCAP cities, only 43 cities experienced 100% compliance with the NAAQS for all days of the month. Among the 157 cities, 45 recorded PM2.5 levels surpassing the daily National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 50% of the days in February.

104 out of the 157 non-NCAP cities consistently recorded PM2.5 levels above the prescribed daily WHO guideline on all days of the month.

In January 2024, 77 cities fell within the “Satisfactory” category, and 84 cities in the “Moderate” category. There were also significant numbers of cities in the “Good” and “Poor” categories, 22 and 39 cities, respectively. Additionally, 31 cities were classified as “Very Poor.”

However, in February 2024, there was a noticeable improvement in air quality, with 36 cities falling within the “Good” category, indicating a significant increase from January. The number of cities in the “Satisfactory” category also saw a substantial rise to 124, reflecting a positive trend. While the count of cities in the “Moderate” category decreased to 66, there was a notable decline in the number of cities classified as “Poor” and “Very Poor”, 24 and 3 cities, respectively.


Ranking of the top 10 most polluted and cleanest cities in India

Byrnihat ranked as the most polluted city in India in February 2024, recording a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 183 µg/m³, surpassing the daily NAAQS each day of the month. Among India’s top 10 polluted cities, four were in Bihar, three in Uttar Pradesh, two in Assam, and one in Rajasthan.

Following Byrnihat, the other cities in the top 10 most polluted list for February were Araria, Hapur, Hanumangarh, Nalbari, Muzaffarnagar, Bhagalpur, Buxar, Greater Noida, and Chhapra, respectively, from the second to the tenth positions. Notably, two NCAP and eight non-NCAP cities were included in this list, underscoring the widespread issue of hazardous air quality across cities beyond the current focus list of non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme.

In the top 10 most polluted cities list, all cities recorded ambient air quality PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the NAAQS for at least 23 days, with none reporting even a single day of good air quality.

Two of the top 10 most polluted cities viz., Hanumangarh and Buxar, lacked comparable PM2.5 concentrations from CAAQMS for the corresponding month last year. Among the remaining eight cities, five recorded higher PM2.5 concentrations in February 2024 compared to the same month last year. However, there was a slight reduction observed in Bhagalpur and Chhapra in Bihar and a significant drop of more than 40 µg/m³ in Byrnihat, Assam.

Additionally, the frequency of severe air quality days, defined as days with PM2.5 concentrations exceeding 250 µg/m³, notably increased in Byrnihat in February 2024 compared to February 2023.

A total of 59 cities were featured in the daily most polluted cities list in February 2024. 23 out of those made an appearance at least five times over the 29-day period, topped by Byrnihat in Meghalaya/Assam, featuring the most times (27 days), followed by Araria (18 days), Nalbari (14 days), Hanumangarh (13 days), Greater Noida (12 days), Muzaffarnagar (12 days), Buxar (11 days), and  Sri Ganganagar (10 days).

The cities featured in the daily top 10 most polluted cities list in India were spread across 15 states and union territories (UT), i.e,  Assam, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Tripura, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh, showing the widespread severity of hazardous air pollution levels nationally.

Only 21 out of the 59 cities featured in the daily top 10 most polluted cities list during February 2024 are part of NCAP, while the remaining 38 cities still don’t have any action plan to reduce hazardous air pollution concentrations.

Satna in Madhya Pradesh emerged as the cleanest city in India in February 2024, boasting a monthly average PM2.5 concentration that placed all 29 days in the ‘good’ category (PM2.5 concentration lower than 30 µg/m³). Also, Satna recorded PM2.5 concentrations below the WHO daily guideline level of 15 µg/m³. Following closely behind were Sivasagar in Assam and Vijayapura in Karnataka. 

Additionally, other cities featured in the top 10 cleanest cities list for February 2024, including Varanasi, Chamarajanagar, Raichur, Bagalkot, Tirupur, Kalaburagi, and Koppal.

Among India’s top 10 cleaner cities, six were in Karnataka, and one each was in Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Among the 36 states and union territories (UT) in India, only 27 had at least one city with a functioning CAAQMS providing data for more than 80% of the days in February 2024. The remaining territories either lacked any installed CAAQMS, such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep, or had inactive stations, as was the case in Sikkim.

In February 2024, 23 out of 36 state/UT capital cities had at least one CAAQMS installed, with data availability exceeding 80% of the days. However, the remaining 13 capitals lacked real-time data on air pollution levels.

Among the 23 capitals with monitoring systems, eight cities exhibited air quality surpassing the daily NAAQS set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). All capitals recorded monthly average PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the daily level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).


Air pollution across cities with million plus population in Indo-Gangatic Plains (IGP)

Out of 22 million plus cities across Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) states/UTs (Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West-Bengal), only 19 cities had an operational CAAQMS for more than 80% of the days in February 2024; others didn’t have CAAQMS installed, i.e., Sahranpur, Ranchi, and Jamshedpur.

Six out of 19 cities exceeded NAAQS, and these cities are located in Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, and Chandigarh. Notably, all cities in Uttar Pradesh had PM2.5 concentration levels below the NAAQS.


Air pollution across megacities in India- February 2024


Monthly ambient air quality trends in India: February 2024 air quality snapshot (pdf version)

Data sources

Ambient air quality data recorded by Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) is downloaded from the ‘Central Control Room for Air Quality Management – All India‘ dashboard operated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).


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