Air quality comparison · Nepal, 87 km apart
Bharatpur vs Kathmandu Air quality index (AQI) today
Bharatpur has cleaner air than Kathmandu right now: AQI 100 (Moderate) against 118 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Kathmandu averaged AQI 105 against 112, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Bharatpur has lost more forest since 2001. Bharatpur has more tree cover.
Nepal
AQI 100
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 35.4 µg/m³2.4× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:45 local
Nepal
AQI 118
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 42.6 µg/m³2.8× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:45 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bharatpur100Kathmandu118
Head to head
Bharatpur vs Kathmandu at a glance
Bharatpur is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Kathmandu on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bharatpur | Kathmandu | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 100 (better) | 118 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 35.4 (better) | 42.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 112 | 105 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 494 ha | 198 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 29.8% (better) | 9.4% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 628 (better) | 80.4K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Bharatpur and Kathmandu right now?
Bharatpur has cleaner air than Kathmandu right now: AQI 100 (Moderate) against 118 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Bharatpur's PM2.5 is about 2.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Kathmandu's PM2.5 is about 2.8× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
BharatpurKathmandu
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Bharatpur: Ground station · Bharatpur Ward 02, 2 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Clean Energy Nepal (CEN).
Kathmandu: Ground station · Chhetrapati (SC - 19) - GD Labs, 1.8 km away · median of 29 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Green Decision Labs and Research, Clean Energy Nepal (CEN), Sapana Bhujel, KIAS.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Kathmandu averaged AQI 105 against 112, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Bharatpur1Kathmandu5
- Average AQI
- Bharatpur112Kathmandu105
- Worst day, AQI
- Bharatpur137Kathmandu131
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Bharatpur | Kathmandu |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 137 | 111 |
| Nov 6 | 130 | 131 |
| Nov 7 | 128 | 126 |
| Nov 8 | 101 | 91 |
| Nov 9 | 93 | 91 |
| Nov 10 | 83 | 80 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Bharatpur and Kathmandu today?
Bharatpur (AQI 100, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Kathmandu (AQI 118, Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Exercise outdoors
- Bharatpur
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Kathmandu
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
- Bharatpur
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Kathmandu
- Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
- Bharatpur
- Not needed for most people.
- Kathmandu
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
- Bharatpur
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Kathmandu
- Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Bharatpur and Kathmandu compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Bharatpur's air is cleaner than 21% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Kathmandu's is cleaner than 16%. Within Nepal, that is 58% and 33% of its 13 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Bharatpur
- Beats 21%
- Kathmandu
- Beats 16%
More tree cover than…
- Bharatpur
- Beats 68%
- Kathmandu
- Beats 20%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Bharatpur or Kathmandu?
Bharatpur has lost more: about 494 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 198 ha around Kathmandu. 452 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2004, with 99 ha lost.
Worst year: 2021, with 25 ha lost.
| Bharatpur | Kathmandu | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 494 ha | 198 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.4% (better) | 4.2% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 452 ha | 173 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (79%) | Towns and roads (85%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Bharatpur
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Kathmandu
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Bharatpur or Kathmandu?
Bharatpur has more tree cover: 29.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.4% around Kathmandu, or about 93,619 trees against 29,531.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Bharatpur | Kathmandu | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 93.6K (better) | 29.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 628 (better) | 80.4K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.1M kg (better) | 650K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Bharatpur vs Kathmandu: your questions answered
Is Bharatpur cleaner than Kathmandu?
On air quality, yes, right now: Bharatpur reads AQI 100 against 118, a gap of 18 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Kathmandu averaged AQI 105 against 112, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Bharatpur and Kathmandu today?
In Bharatpur, at AQI 100: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Kathmandu, at AQI 118: Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Which has lost more forest, Bharatpur or Kathmandu?
Bharatpur has lost more: about 494 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 198 ha around Kathmandu. 452 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Bharatpur or Kathmandu?
Bharatpur has more tree cover: 29.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.4% around Kathmandu, or about 93,619 trees against 29,531. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Bharatpur and Kathmandu need?
Bharatpur needs about 628 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Kathmandu about 80,425 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Bharatpur and Kathmandu measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Bharatpur vs Kathmandu comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Aug 12, 2026 and Aug 12, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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