Amritsar Air Quality Index (AQI) & Air Pollution Today

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

Amritsar AQI Right Now

70

Category: Satisfactory

Dominant Pollutant: pm10

PM2.5: 30.54 µg/m³

PM10: 69.08 µg/m³

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

Amritsar Pollutant Levels

PollutantConcentration
PM2.530.54 µg/m³
PM1069.08 µg/m³
O₃ (Ozone)21.1 µg/m³
NO₂12.09 µg/m³
SO₂11.96 µg/m³
CO1366.63 µg/m³

Health Advisory — Amritsar

Satisfactory: Minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people.

Health Impact — Amritsar

Cigarette Equivalent: Breathing this air is equivalent to smoking 1.4 cigarettes per day (based on current PM2.5 levels).

Life Expectancy Impact: Sustained exposure at this PM2.5 level could reduce life expectancy by 0.13 years (AQLI estimate, relative to WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³).

Health Recommendations for Amritsar

  • General Population: Acceptable air quality. Unusually sensitive people should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
  • Elderly: Minor breathing discomfort is possible.
  • Children: Should be fine outdoors with normal activities.
  • Lung Disease Patients: Consider reducing prolonged outdoor exertion.

Understanding Amritsar Air Quality

Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple and Punjab's spiritual centre, faces acute seasonal air quality crises driven by agricultural stubble burning in surrounding paddy-growing districts. Located just 28 km from the Pakistan border on the flat Punjab plains, the city has no natural barriers to pollutant dispersal, but also receives agricultural smoke from a wide catchment area during October–November.

PM2.5 during peak stubble burning weeks regularly exceeds 350 µg/m³, with dense grey-brown haze reducing visibility to under 200 metres. The Golden Temple - one of India's most visited sites - frequently disappears in smog during November, impacting tourism and religious pilgrimage. Combined with cold temperatures and fog from December through January, Amritsar experiences 3–4 months of consistently poor to severe air quality.

The city's industrial base includes textile processing, food processing (spices, dairy), and small-scale manufacturing that add baseline emissions. Cross-border air movement from Pakistan's Punjab province can occasionally contribute, though the dominant source is local and regional agricultural burning. The Punjab government has distributed Happy Seeders and imposed burning bans, but compliance remains limited in the rural districts surrounding Amritsar.

Primary Pollution Sources

  • Stubble burning (paddy residue)
  • Vehicle exhaust
  • Industrial emissions (textile, food processing)
  • Construction dust
  • Brick kilns
  • Cross-border pollution (Indo-Pak border)

Geography: Punjab plains near the Pakistan border; flat agricultural terrain with severe Oct–Nov stubble burning impact, cold winter fog

Peak pollution months: October, November, December, January

Frequently Asked Questions — Amritsar

How does stubble burning affect Amritsar?

Amritsar is severely affected by paddy stubble burning from October to November, when surrounding districts burn crop residue. PM2.5 can exceed 350 µg/m³ during peak burning, with dense smog obscuring even the Golden Temple. The city's proximity to major paddy-growing areas means it receives more concentrated smoke than cities farther from agricultural zones.

When is the best time to visit Amritsar for clean air?

March through May and August through September offer the cleanest air, with AQI typically in the Good to Satisfactory range. Avoid October–January when stubble burning and winter fog create hazardous conditions.

Air Quality in Nearby Cities