Gopalganj Air Quality Index (AQI) & Air Pollution Today

Bihar, India — Real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) and PM2.5

Gopalganj AQI Right Now

102

Category: Moderate

Dominant Pollutant: pm10

PM2.5: 49.78 µg/m³

PM10: 101.99 µg/m³

Last updated: 2026-03-24 — Data source: Google Air Quality API (NAQI). Live NAQI values load when you visit the page.

Gopalganj Pollutant Levels

PollutantConcentration
PM2.549.78 µg/m³
PM10101.99 µg/m³
O₃ (Ozone)8.12 µg/m³
NO₂9.52 µg/m³
SO₂4.26 µg/m³
CO786.76 µg/m³

Health Advisory — Gopalganj

Moderate: Breathing discomfort to people with lungs, asthma and heart diseases.

Health Impact — Gopalganj

Cigarette Equivalent: Breathing this air is equivalent to smoking 2.3 cigarettes per day (based on current PM2.5 levels).

Life Expectancy Impact: Sustained exposure at this PM2.5 level could reduce life expectancy by 0.26 years (AQLI estimate, relative to WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³).

Health Recommendations for Gopalganj

  • General Population: People with respiratory or heart conditions should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
  • Elderly: Reduce prolonged outdoor activities.
  • Children: Reduce prolonged outdoor play.
  • Lung Disease Patients: Avoid prolonged outdoor exertion.

Understanding Gopalganj Air Quality

Gopalganj, nestled in the Gandak River basin of north Bihar near the Uttar Pradesh border, is a predominantly agricultural town surrounded by some of Bihar's most productive rice paddies. The flat, low-lying terrain-barely above flood level during the monsoon-stretches unbroken to the horizon in every direction, creating atmospheric conditions where winter pollutants have no natural escape route. The Gandak River's seasonal flooding deposits fertile alluvium that sustains intensive rice cultivation but also generates the atmospheric moisture that fuels Gopalganj's notoriously thick winter fog.

November through February brings the district's worst air quality. After the kharif rice harvest in October, widespread stubble burning across Gopalganj and neighbouring Siwan and Saran districts creates a regional smoke haze that persists for weeks. As winter deepens, household biomass burning becomes the dominant pollution source-with LPG penetration among the lowest in Bihar, the vast majority of Gopalganj's rural and semi-urban households depend on dung cakes, firewood, and rice straw for cooking and heating fuel. Brick kilns on the town's outskirts fire up for the dry season, and the limited but growing motor vehicle traffic contributes diesel and petrol exhaust. The fog-bound Gandak floodplain acts as a giant low-ceiling room, concentrating all these emissions at breathing height.

The Gandak's monsoon flooding from July through September, while destructive to crops and property, delivers Gopalganj's cleanest air. Rainfall of 1,100 to 1,400 mm effectively washes the atmosphere, and warm humid conditions prevent inversions. As waters recede in October, a transient clean-air window opens before stubble burning and cooling temperatures herald the return of winter pollution. Gopalganj's remote location and limited urban infrastructure mean official air quality monitoring is sparse, but satellite aerosol data confirm PM2.5 levels comparable to larger Bihar cities during winter months.

Primary Pollution Sources

  • Domestic biomass burning
  • Agricultural crop burning
  • Brick kilns
  • Vehicle exhaust
  • Open waste burning

Geography: North Bihar agricultural town near the Uttar Pradesh border in the Gandak River basin; flat low-lying rice-growing district with seasonal flooding

Peak pollution months: November, December, January, February

Frequently Asked Questions — Gopalganj

Why does a small agricultural town like Gopalganj have poor winter air quality?

Gopalganj's winter pollution stems from the same factors affecting all Indo-Gangetic Plain communities: domestic biomass burning by households relying on dung cakes and firewood, post-harvest rice stubble burning across the district, brick kiln emissions, and dense fog that traps all pollutants near ground level. The flat Gandak floodplain offers no topographic relief, and low LPG adoption rates keep biomass burning prevalent.

Is there any air quality monitoring in Gopalganj?

Gopalganj lacks a continuous ambient air quality monitoring station as of recent years. Air quality estimates rely on satellite-derived aerosol optical depth data and regional modelling, which consistently show PM2.5 levels in the Very Poor to Severe range during winter months. Nearest ground-level monitoring stations are in Patna and Gorakhpur (UP), both over 100 km away.

Air Quality in Nearby Cities