Salem vs Varanasi
Side-by-side air quality comparison between Salem 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, Salem averaged an AQI of 68 while Varanasi averaged 56 — a 12-point (21%) gap, with Salem the more polluted and Varanasi the cleaner of the two. On 208 days when both cities reported, Salem was cleaner on 138 of them; the average daily gap was 43 AQI points.
Seasonality & days
Salem peaks in April, while Varanasi peaks in January. Salem logged 0% Severe days and 87.1% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Varanasi was 2.8% Severe and 36% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Salem 17 days, Varanasi 87 days.
Year-over-year progress
Salem has improved by 5 AQI points (6.8%) from 2022 to 2024; Varanasi has improved by 169 AQI points (75.1%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Salem reached AQI 214 at Sona College of Technology (TNPCB) on 2024-01-15; Varanasi hit AQI 500 at Ardhali Bazar (UPPCB) on 2017-07-11.
Station-level disparity
Salem spans 1 CPCB stations with a 0-point spread (min 73, max 73); Varanasi spans 4 stations with a 94-point spread (min 71, max 165).