City report · Karnataka, India
Bengaluru Air quality today
Air quality in Bengaluru currently reads AQI 160 (Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Air quality right now
AQI 160
Unhealthy
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 69.0
- tree cover
- 36.7%
- trees in this area
- 115K
- more trees needed
- 10.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Nunegundlapalli, Ambedkar Veedhi, Sampangi Rama Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 14, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Bengaluru · AQI 160 (Unhealthy)
Bengaluru's tree count comes to 115,296 trees across 12.57 km², 3 points below the 40% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 10,367 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Bengaluru today: AQI 160, Unhealthy
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 20:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Hombegowda Nagar, Bengaluru - KSPCB, 3.7 km away · median of 8 stations
Health signal
Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
PM2.5
69.0
PM10
144.5
NO₂
55.5
O₃
22.6
SO₂
42.0
CO
1.4
Data: OpenAQ · CPCB, Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India (GODL-India)
- Outdoor exercise
- Everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it
- Windows
- Keep them closed
- Mask
- Wear an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Bengaluru's daily AQI at 77 on average, from 47 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 134 on Nov 10.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Bengaluru stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Bengaluru: Below target
36.7% tree cover against a 40% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
115,296
Target trees
125,663
More trees needed
10,367
CO₂ if planted / yr
228.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Bengaluru lost?
There was very little forest around Bengaluru in 2000, about 24 hectares, and about 2 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2011, when about 1 hectare of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Bengaluru?
- Towns and roadscleared for good26% · under 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown74% · 2 ha
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 2,900 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 3,320 ha
- Overall change
- +425 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Bengaluru grew from about 2,900 hectares to 3,320 hectares, a net gain of about 425 hectares (+15%). New forest grew on about 447 hectares, while 22 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Bengaluru
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Yelahanka14.3 km
India
- Tree cover
- 35%
- Air quality
- 160
- Hosūr36.8 km
India
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 164
- Kolār60.9 km
India
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 169
- Tumkūr67.2 km
India
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 169
- Robertsonpet73.9 km
India
- Tree cover
- 34%
- Air quality
- 173
- Mandya90.6 km
India
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 170
Also compared:Bengaluru vs MumbaiBengaluru vs New DelhiBengaluru vs HyderabadBengaluru vs Ahmedabad
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Frequently asked
Questions about Bengaluru
What is the air quality (AQI) in Bengaluru right now?
The latest reading for Bengaluru shows an AQI of 160 (Unhealthy), measured Nov 11, 20:00 local time by 8 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Hombegowda Nagar, Bengaluru - KSPCB, 3.7 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Bengaluru today?
At AQI 160 (Unhealthy): everyone should cut down long or hard exercise; sensitive groups should avoid it. Windows: keep them closed. Masks: wear an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Bengaluru been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Bengaluru's daily AQI at 77 on average, from 47 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 134 on Nov 10. On 2 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Bengaluru's AQI the same as India's AQI (CPCB)?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) publishes the National Air Quality Index on its own scale: 0–50 good, 51–100 satisfactory, 101–200 moderate, 201–300 poor, 301–400 very poor and 401–500 severe. The two scales don't line up. At moderate fine-particle levels the US scale reads higher: 55 µg/m³ of PM2.5 is 149 on the US AQI but about 92, "satisfactory", on India's. In heavy smog India's reads higher: 100 µg/m³ is 182 on the US AQI and about 232, "poor", on India's. CPCB also averages particles over 24 hours, so its figure moves more slowly than an hourly reading.
How much forest has the area around Bengaluru lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Bengaluru in 2000, about 24 hectares, and about 2 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Bengaluru grew from about 2,900 hectares to 3,320 hectares, a net gain of about 425 hectares (+15%). New forest grew on about 447 hectares, while 22 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Bengaluru?
Bengaluru has an estimated 115,296 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 36.7% tree cover, 3 percentage points short of the 40% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Bengaluru need?
Bengaluru needs roughly 10,367 more trees to close a 3-point shortfall against its 40% tree-cover target — about 228.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Bengaluru's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Nunegundlapalli, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Nunegundlapalli; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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