City report · West Bengal, India
Malda Air quality today
Air quality in Malda currently reads AQI 90 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Air quality right now
AQI 90
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 25.9
- tree cover
- 45.3%
- trees in this area
- 132K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Malda, West Bengal, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Malda · AQI 90 (Moderate)
Malda's tree count comes to 131,641 trees across 11.63 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Malda today: AQI 90, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 12:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 17 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 17 station cities within 245 km, e.g. Katihar and Purnia
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
25.9
PM10
47.3
NO₂
1.9
O₃
166.0
SO₂
12.7
CO
380.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Malda's daily AQI at 157 on average, from 109 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 206 on Nov 7.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Malda stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Malda: Healthy tree cover
45.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 11.63 km² of land.
Trees in this area
131,641
Target trees
131,641
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Malda lost?
There was very little forest around Malda in 2000, about 52 hectares, and about 4 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 2002, 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | 1 ha | 2 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 | 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 Malda?
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back22% · under 1 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good20% · under 1 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good2.4% · under 1 ha
Also: unknown causes.
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
- 9,330 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 10,000 ha
- Overall change
- +713 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Malda grew from about 9,330 hectares to 10,000 hectares, a net gain of about 713 hectares (+7.6%). New forest grew on about 760 hectares, while 48 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 Malda
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Mohammadpur40.3 km
Bangladesh
- Tree cover
- 50%
- Air quality
- 202
- Nawābganj47.9 km
Bangladesh
- Tree cover
- 64%
- Air quality
- 152
- Rāiganj67.7 km
India
- Tree cover
- 60%
- Air quality
- 114
- Bālurghāt68.0 km
India
- Tree cover
- 50%
- Air quality
- 164
- Katihar82.9 km
India
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 117
- Rajshahi83.9 km
Bangladesh
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 181
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Frequently asked
Questions about Malda
What is the air quality (AQI) in Malda right now?
The latest reading for Malda shows an AQI of 90 (Moderate), observed Nov 11, 12:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 17 ground-station cities within 245 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Malda today?
At AQI 90 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Malda been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Malda's daily AQI at 157 on average, from 109 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 206 on Nov 7. On 7 of those days the average was above 100, unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Malda'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 Malda lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Malda in 2000, about 52 hectares, and about 4 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 Malda grew from about 9,330 hectares to 10,000 hectares, a net gain of about 713 hectares (+7.6%). New forest grew on about 760 hectares, while 48 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Malda?
Malda has an estimated 131,641 trees across the 11.63 km² of land measured — 45.3% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Malda need?
Malda has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Malda'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 Malda; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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