City report · Tamil Nadu, India
Kallakurichi Air quality today
Air quality in Kallakurichi currently reads AQI 163 (Unhealthy): Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Air quality right now
AQI 163
Unhealthy
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 69.1
- tree cover
- 38.6%
- trees in this area
- 120K
- more trees needed
- 4.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 29, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kallakurichi · AQI 163 (Unhealthy)
Kallakurichi's tree count comes to 119,568 trees across 12.39 km² of land, 1 points below the 40% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 4,337 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kallakurichi today: AQI 163, Unhealthy
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 16:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 6 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 6 station cities within 205 km, e.g. Cuddalore and Puducherry
Health signal
Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
PM2.5
69.1
PM10
48.5
NO₂
5.6
O₃
140.0
SO₂
9.0
CO
349.0
- 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 Kallakurichi's daily AQI at 75 on average, from 52 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 132 on Nov 10.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Kallakurichi stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kallakurichi: Below target
38.6% tree cover against a 40% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.39 km² of land.
Trees in this area
119,568
Target trees
123,905
More trees needed
4,337
CO₂ if planted / yr
95.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kallakurichi lost?
There was very little forest around Kallakurichi in 2000, about 98 hectares, and about 9 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 2008, when about 2 hectares 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 | 2 ha | 2 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 | 1 ha | 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 | 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 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 | under 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 Kallakurichi?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good13% · 1 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.4% · under 1 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown81% · 8 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
- 759 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 872 ha
- Overall change
- +113 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kallakurichi grew from about 759 hectares to 872 hectares, a net gain of about 113 hectares (+15%). New forest grew on about 163 hectares, while 51 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 Kallakurichi
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Tiruvannamalai56.2 km
India
- Tree cover
- 38%
- Air quality
- 159
- Neyveli60.4 km
India
- Tree cover
- 70%
- Air quality
- 155
- Cuddalore88.0 km
India
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 165
- Salem88.0 km
India
- Tree cover
- 16%
- Air quality
- 156
- Puducherry97.3 km
India
- Tree cover
- 25%
- Air quality
- 165
- Kumbakonam97.9 km
India
- Tree cover
- 49%
- Air quality
- 161
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Frequently asked
Questions about Kallakurichi
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kallakurichi right now?
The latest reading for Kallakurichi shows an AQI of 163 (Unhealthy), observed Nov 10, 16:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 6 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Everyone should limit long outdoor exertion; sensitive groups more so.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Kallakurichi today?
At AQI 163 (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 Kallakurichi been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kallakurichi's daily AQI at 75 on average, from 52 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 132 on Nov 10. On 2 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Kallakurichi'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 Kallakurichi lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Kallakurichi in 2000, about 98 hectares, and about 9 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 Kallakurichi grew from about 759 hectares to 872 hectares, a net gain of about 113 hectares (+15%). New forest grew on about 163 hectares, while 51 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kallakurichi?
Kallakurichi has an estimated 119,568 trees across the 12.39 km² of land measured — 38.6% tree cover, 1 percentage points short of the 40% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kallakurichi need?
Kallakurichi needs roughly 4,337 more trees to close a 1-point shortfall against its 40% tree-cover target — about 95.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kallakurichi's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Kallakurichi; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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