Jalandhar Air Quality Index (AQI) & Air Pollution Today

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

Jalandhar AQI Right Now

106

Category: Moderate

Dominant Pollutant: pm10

PM2.5: 57.56 µg/m³

PM10: 108.26 µg/m³

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

Jalandhar Pollutant Levels

PollutantConcentration
PM2.557.56 µg/m³
PM10108.26 µg/m³
O₃ (Ozone)19.39 µg/m³
NO₂22.68 µg/m³
SO₂5.67 µg/m³
CO890.73 µg/m³

Health Advisory — Jalandhar

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

Health Impact — Jalandhar

Cigarette Equivalent: Breathing this air is equivalent to smoking 2.6 cigarettes per day (based on current PM2.5 levels).

Life Expectancy Impact: Sustained exposure at this PM2.5 level could reduce life expectancy by 0.31 years (AQLI estimate, relative to WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³).

Health Recommendations for Jalandhar

  • 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 Jalandhar Air Quality

Jalandhar, India's sports goods capital, sits in the heart of Punjab's fertile Doab region on the flat Indo-Gangetic plain. The city is globally renowned for manufacturing cricket bats, hockey sticks, footballs, and boxing gloves, with thousands of small workshops along GT Road and the Focal Point industrial area processing rubber, leather, and willow wood. These manufacturing processes release volatile organic compounds, rubber particulates, and wood dust that form a baseline layer of industrial pollution throughout the year.

October and November bring Jalandhar's worst air quality crisis, when paddy stubble burning across Punjab's agricultural belt creates a thick blanket of smoke over the region. During peak stubble burning weeks, PM2.5 levels in Jalandhar can surge past 300 µg/m³, placing the city firmly in the Severe category. The flat terrain offers zero natural barriers to the smoke, and northwesterly winds channel emissions from Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, and Nawanshahr districts directly into the city. Combined with domestic heating from angithis (traditional charcoal heaters) and local vehicular congestion, winter AQI routinely stays in the Very Poor to Severe range through January.

The monsoon (July–September) provides Jalandhar its cleanest air, with heavy rainfall of 700+ mm washing out particulates and AQI dropping to Good or Satisfactory levels. Pre-monsoon months (March–May) are moderate, though dust storms from Rajasthan occasionally spike PM10 levels. Jalandhar's pollution profile mirrors the broader Punjab crisis - a combination of agricultural burning, industrial emissions from its famed sports goods cluster, and the Indo-Gangetic plain's propensity to trap winter pollution.

Primary Pollution Sources

  • Vehicle exhaust
  • Crop residue burning (paddy stubble)
  • Sports goods and rubber manufacturing
  • Road dust
  • Construction dust
  • Domestic heating

Geography: Central Punjab on flat Indo-Gangetic plain; major sports goods manufacturing hub, heavily affected by regional stubble burning

Peak pollution months: October, November, December, January

Frequently Asked Questions — Jalandhar

How does stubble burning affect Jalandhar's air quality?

Paddy stubble burning in October–November is the single largest factor behind Jalandhar's severe winter pollution. Thousands of fields across Punjab are set alight after the kharif harvest, and the smoke blankets the entire region. During peak burning weeks, PM2.5 in Jalandhar can exceed 300 µg/m³ - 5 to 6 times the safe limit - turning the sky hazy and causing widespread respiratory distress.

Does the sports goods industry contribute to Jalandhar's pollution?

Yes - Jalandhar's sports goods manufacturing cluster, concentrated in Focal Point and GT Road industrial zones, involves rubber vulcanisation, leather tanning, willow wood shaping, and chemical adhesive use. These processes release rubber particulates, VOCs, and fine wood dust. While their contribution is smaller than stubble burning or vehicular emissions, they add a persistent industrial baseline to the city's air quality burden.

Air Quality in Nearby Cities