Jehanabad Air Quality Index (AQI) & Air Pollution Today

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

Jehanabad AQI Right Now

106

Category: Moderate

Dominant Pollutant: pm10

PM2.5: 54.44 µg/m³

PM10: 107.04 µg/m³

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

Jehanabad Pollutant Levels

PollutantConcentration
PM2.554.44 µg/m³
PM10107.04 µg/m³
O₃ (Ozone)19.18 µg/m³
NO₂15.26 µg/m³
SO₂1.53 µg/m³
CO786.76 µg/m³

Health Advisory — Jehanabad

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

Health Impact — Jehanabad

Cigarette Equivalent: Breathing this air is equivalent to smoking 2.5 cigarettes per day (based on current PM2.5 levels).

Life Expectancy Impact: Sustained exposure at this PM2.5 level could reduce life expectancy by 0.29 years (AQLI estimate, relative to WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³).

Health Recommendations for Jehanabad

  • 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 Jehanabad Air Quality

Jehanabad sits on the banks of the Phalgu River roughly fifty kilometres south of Patna in the heartland of the ancient Magadh region. Despite its modest size, the town's air quality is influenced by its position downwind of Patna-Bihar's capital and one of India's most polluted cities-during certain wind patterns that carry the capital's emission plume southward across the flat, unobstructed Magadh plain. Jehanabad's own pollution sources are typical of agricultural Bihar: biomass combustion for cooking and heating dominates, with a landscape of rice paddies and wheat fields stretching in every direction.

November through February marks the peak pollution season. The Phalgu River, which flows past Gaya and Bodhgaya before reaching Jehanabad, runs nearly dry during winter, and its exposed sandy bed generates wind-blown dust that adds to the particulate load. Dense fog over the flat terrain traps emissions from household dung-cake and wood fires, brick kilns operating along river corridors where clay is plentiful, and the post-kharif stubble burning that blankets central Bihar in smoky haze every October and November. Jehanabad's main road, connecting Patna to Gaya, carries substantial freight and passenger traffic whose diesel exhaust is another persistent source. The town's relatively compact size means that rural biomass burning from surrounding villages is close enough to directly impact urban air quality readings.

Monsoon rains from June through September bring dramatic improvement, with 900 to 1,100 mm of rainfall suppressing dust and washing the air clean. The Phalgu River swells briefly during heavy September rains but is one of Bihar's less flood-prone waterways. Post-monsoon October offers comfortable conditions before winter's arrival. Jehanabad's proximity to both Patna and Gaya-two well-monitored Bihar cities-means its pollution patterns can be reasonably inferred from their data, though the smaller town lacks its own continuous monitoring station.

Primary Pollution Sources

  • Domestic biomass burning
  • Brick kilns
  • Vehicle exhaust
  • Agricultural crop burning
  • Road dust

Geography: Agricultural town south of Patna on the Phalgu River in the central Magadh plain; flat terrain with intensive rice-wheat cropping and proximity to Patna's pollution plume

Peak pollution months: November, December, January, February

Frequently Asked Questions — Jehanabad

Does Patna's pollution reach Jehanabad?

Yes, under certain winter wind conditions. When northerly or northwesterly winds blow, Patna's pollution plume can travel the fifty kilometres south across the flat, obstructionless Magadh plain to Jehanabad. Satellite aerosol data show that the central Bihar corridor from Patna through Jehanabad to Gaya frequently appears as a continuous high-pollution zone during winter months.

What makes Jehanabad's pollution profile typical of rural Bihar?

Jehanabad exemplifies the rural Bihar pollution pattern: domestic biomass burning (dung cakes, firewood, crop residue) is the dominant emission source, agricultural stubble burning causes seasonal spikes, brick kilns operate in the dry season, and flat Gangetic terrain with winter fog traps everything near ground level. The absence of significant industry means nearly all PM2.5 comes from combustion of solid fuels.

Air Quality in Nearby Cities