Prayagraj vs Varanasi
Side-by-side air quality comparison between Prayagraj 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, Prayagraj averaged an AQI of 80 while Varanasi averaged 56 — a 24-point (43%) gap, with Prayagraj the more polluted and Varanasi the cleaner of the two. On 937 days when both cities reported, Varanasi was cleaner on 621 of them; the average daily gap was 36 AQI points.
Seasonality & days
Prayagraj peaks in November, while Varanasi peaks in January. Prayagraj logged 0.2% Severe days and 48% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Varanasi was 2.8% Severe and 36% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Prayagraj 69 days, Varanasi 87 days.
Year-over-year progress
Prayagraj has improved by 42 AQI points (34.4%) from 2021 to 2024; Varanasi has improved by 169 AQI points (75.1%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Prayagraj reached AQI 416 at Nagar Nigam (UPPCB) on 2021-11-08; Varanasi hit AQI 500 at Ardhali Bazar (UPPCB) on 2017-07-11.
Station-level disparity
Prayagraj spans 3 CPCB stations with a 9-point spread (min 96, max 105); Varanasi spans 4 stations with a 94-point spread (min 71, max 165).