Rishīkesh vs Varanasi
Side-by-side air quality comparison between Rishīkesh 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, Rishīkesh averaged an AQI of 74 while Varanasi averaged 56 — a 18-point (32%) gap, with Rishīkesh the more polluted and Varanasi the cleaner of the two. On 340 days when both cities reported, Varanasi was cleaner on 181 of them; the average daily gap was 40 AQI points.
Seasonality & days
Both cities see their worst air in January on average. Rishīkesh logged 0% Severe days and 88.3% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Varanasi was 2.8% Severe and 36% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Rishīkesh 95 days, Varanasi 87 days.
Year-over-year progress
Rishīkesh has worsened by 21 AQI points (39.6%) from 2023 to 2024; Varanasi has improved by 169 AQI points (75.1%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Rishīkesh reached AQI 208 at Shivaji Nagar (UKPCB) on 2024-11-11; Varanasi hit AQI 500 at Ardhali Bazar (UPPCB) on 2017-07-11.
Station-level disparity
Rishīkesh spans 1 CPCB stations with a 0-point spread (min 64, max 64); Varanasi spans 4 stations with a 94-point spread (min 71, max 165).