Pune vs Varanasi
Side-by-side air quality comparison between Pune 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, Pune averaged an AQI of 97 while Varanasi averaged 56 — a 41-point (73%) gap, with Pune the more polluted and Varanasi the cleaner of the two. On 1909 days when both cities reported, Pune was cleaner on 1146 of them; the average daily gap was 92 AQI points.
Seasonality & days
Pune peaks in November, while Varanasi peaks in January. Pune logged 0.1% Severe days and 44.8% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Varanasi was 2.8% Severe and 36% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Pune 92 days, Varanasi 87 days.
Year-over-year progress
Pune has improved by 7 AQI points (6.7%) from 2017 to 2024; Varanasi has improved by 169 AQI points (75.1%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Pune reached AQI 435 at Alandi (IITM) on 2024-01-29; Varanasi hit AQI 500 at Ardhali Bazar (UPPCB) on 2017-07-11.
Station-level disparity
Pune spans 12 CPCB stations with a 54-point spread (min 68, max 122); Varanasi spans 4 stations with a 94-point spread (min 71, max 165).