Mumbai vs Varanasi
Side-by-side air quality comparison between Mumbai 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, Mumbai averaged an AQI of 93 while Varanasi averaged 56 — a 37-point (66%) gap, with Mumbai the more polluted and Varanasi the cleaner of the two. On 2474 days when both cities reported, Mumbai was cleaner on 1263 of them; the average daily gap was 103 AQI points.
Seasonality & days
Mumbai peaks in December, while Varanasi peaks in January. Mumbai logged 0.5% Severe days and 34% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Varanasi was 2.8% Severe and 36% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Mumbai 58 days, Varanasi 87 days.
Year-over-year progress
Mumbai has improved by 4 AQI points (4.1%) from 2016 to 2024; Varanasi has improved by 169 AQI points (75.1%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Mumbai reached AQI 500 at Vile Parle West (MPCB) on 2022-08-15; Varanasi hit AQI 500 at Ardhali Bazar (UPPCB) on 2017-07-11.
Station-level disparity
Mumbai spans 29 CPCB stations with a 74-point spread (min 77, max 151); Varanasi spans 4 stations with a 94-point spread (min 71, max 165).