Ambikapur Air Quality Index (AQI) & Air Pollution Today

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

Ambikapur AQI Right Now

102

Category: Moderate

Dominant Pollutant: pm10

PM2.5: 42.19 µg/m³

PM10: 101.21 µg/m³

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

Ambikapur Pollutant Levels

PollutantConcentration
PM2.542.19 µg/m³
PM10101.21 µg/m³
O₃ (Ozone)31.63 µg/m³
NO₂38.46 µg/m³
SO₂20.2 µg/m³
CO505.42 µg/m³

Health Advisory — Ambikapur

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

Health Impact — Ambikapur

Cigarette Equivalent: Breathing this air is equivalent to smoking 1.9 cigarettes per day (based on current PM2.5 levels).

Life Expectancy Impact: Sustained exposure at this PM2.5 level could reduce life expectancy by 0.21 years (AQLI estimate, relative to WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³).

Health Recommendations for Ambikapur

  • 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 Ambikapur Air Quality

Ambikapur, the headquarters of Surguja district in northern Chhattisgarh, sits in a hilly landscape at the transition between the Vindhyan ranges and the Chota Nagpur plateau. Unlike the heavily industrialised Raipur-Korba corridor to the south, Ambikapur's pollution profile is dominated by vehicular emissions, biomass burning, and seasonal agricultural and forest fires. The city's relatively small size and surrounding forest cover generally provide better air quality than most Chhattisgarh cities.

Winter months (November–February) bring deteriorated air quality as temperature inversions in the valley trap vehicle exhaust, domestic biomass smoke from wood and cow-dung fuel use, and construction dust from the growing town. PM2.5 levels can exceed 80–100 µg/m³ during peak winter weeks. Forest fires in the surrounding Surguja forests during March–May add smoke plumes that periodically degrade air quality even outside the traditional pollution season.

The monsoon (June–September) delivers 1,200–1,400 mm of rainfall that effectively cleans the atmosphere, bringing AQI to Good or Satisfactory levels. Ambikapur has gained national recognition for its solid waste management practices, but air quality monitoring infrastructure remains limited, with no continuous ambient air quality monitoring station in the city.

Primary Pollution Sources

  • Vehicle exhaust
  • Road dust
  • Domestic biomass burning
  • Construction dust
  • Agricultural residue burning
  • Forest fire smoke (seasonal)

Geography: Surguja district headquarters in northern Chhattisgarh; hilly forested terrain at the edge of the Vindhyan-Chota Nagpur plateau transition zone

Peak pollution months: November, December, January, February

Frequently Asked Questions — Ambikapur

Is Ambikapur less polluted than Raipur?

Yes, Ambikapur generally has significantly better air quality than Raipur due to its distance from the industrial Raipur-Bhilai-Korba belt, lower vehicular density, and surrounding forest cover. However, winter inversions and biomass burning can push PM2.5 into unhealthy ranges during December–January.

Do forest fires affect Ambikapur's air quality?

Yes - the extensive forests of Surguja district experience fires during the dry season (March–May), sending smoke plumes over Ambikapur. These events can spike PM2.5 levels for several days. Satellite-detected fire hotspots in northern Chhattisgarh correlate with periodic AQI deterioration in the city.

Air Quality in Nearby Cities