Delhi vs Varanasi
Side-by-side air quality comparison between Delhi and Varanasi.
Live AQI from Open-Meteo CAMS (~45 km global model, updated hourly). Multi-year history from CPCB station data via aqinow.co pipeline (2016–2024, station-level daily records).
AQI Comparison
CPCB Multi-Year History (2016–2024)
Summary
Overview
In 2024, Delhi averaged an AQI of 210 while Varanasi averaged 56 — a 154-point (275%) gap, with Delhi the more polluted and Varanasi the cleaner of the two. On 2630 days when both cities reported, Varanasi was cleaner on 2406 of them; the average daily gap was 136 AQI points.
Seasonality & days
Delhi peaks in November, while Varanasi peaks in January. Delhi logged 18.7% Severe days and 1.7% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Varanasi was 2.8% Severe and 36% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Delhi 3 days, Varanasi 87 days.
Year-over-year progress
Delhi has improved by 42 AQI points (16.7%) from 2016 to 2024; Varanasi has improved by 169 AQI points (75.1%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Delhi reached AQI 500 at Ashok Vihar (DPCC) on 2024-11-18; Varanasi hit AQI 500 at Ardhali Bazar (UPPCB) on 2017-07-11.
Station-level disparity
Delhi spans 39 CPCB stations with a 84-point spread (min 178, max 262); Varanasi spans 4 stations with a 94-point spread (min 71, max 165).