India · Punjab · 17 cities
Air quality in Punjab, India today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Mohali has the cleanest air of the 17 cities we track in Punjab (AQI 137, Unhealthy for sensitive groups), and Muktsar the worst (AQI 788, Hazardous). Firozpur has the most tree cover, at 35.5% — #104 of 470 cities measured in India.
Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
Average right now
AQI 285
Very unhealthy
- cities tracked
- 17
- average tree cover
- 17.7%
- India: 27.3%
- worst air now: Muktsar
- 788
- cleanest air now: Mohali
- 137
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous, and it reads differently from India's AQI (CPCB). Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Punjab · average AQI 285
Air quality today across Punjab, India, city by city
| Ludhiana | 192Unhealthy | 13.3% | 83.9K | #404 of 470 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amritsar | 169Unhealthy | 14.6% | 79.8K | #385 of 470 |
| Jalandhar | 163Unhealthy | 16.6% | 73.5K | #356 of 470 |
| Patiāla | 154Unhealthy | 27.3% | 39.8K | #179 of 470 |
| Bathinda | 268Very unhealthy | 11.6% | 105K | #430 of 470 |
| Pathānkot | 195Unhealthy | 27.5% | 39.3K | #175 of 470 |
| Hoshiārpur | 166Unhealthy | 28.4% | 36.4K | #160 of 470 |
| Mohali | 137Unhealthy for sensitive groups | 25.0% | 31.4K | #215 of 470 |
| Moga | 323Hazardous | 13.0% | 101K | #409 of 470 |
| Batāla | 417Hazardous | 19.2% | 81.1K | #311 of 470 |
| Abohar | 561Hazardous | 9.0% | 113K | #454 of 470 |
| Māler Kotla | 188Unhealthy | 13.9% | 82.0K | #398 of 470 |
| Khanna | 184Unhealthy | 8.3% | 99.6K | #459 of 470 |
| Muktsar | 788Hazardous | 11.6% | 105K | #428 of 470 |
| Barnāla | 239Very unhealthy | 8.8% | 114K | #455 of 470 |
| Firozpur | 541Hazardous | 35.5% | 29.8K | #104 of 470 |
| Phagwāra | 163Unhealthy | 16.6% | 73.5K | #355 of 470 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 2 km of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery; the rank compares every city measured in India.
Is this 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.
India's AQI (CPCB) and the AQI, explainedDeforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Punjab, India lost?
Since 2001, Punjab, India has lost about 1,500 hectares of forest (about 2,100 football pitches): 2% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (52%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,500 haabout 2,100 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 783 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 22 ha | 81 ha | 103 ha |
| 2002 | 29 ha | 48 ha | 77 ha |
| 2003 | 44 ha | 42 ha | 86 ha |
| 2004 | 55 ha | 56 ha | 111 ha |
| 2005 | 60 ha | 82 ha | 142 ha |
| 2006 | 55 ha | 34 ha | 89 ha |
| 2007 | 57 ha | 38 ha | 95 ha |
| 2008 | 47 ha | 42 ha | 89 ha |
| 2009 | 46 ha | 37 ha | 82 ha |
| 2010 | 51 ha | 64 ha | 115 ha |
| 2011 | 28 ha | 22 ha | 50 ha |
| 2012 | 80 ha | 59 ha | 139 ha |
| 2013 | 12 ha | 6 ha | 18 ha |
| 2014 | 22 ha | 5 ha | 27 ha |
| 2015 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | 10 ha | 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2019 | 6 ha | 2 ha | 8 ha |
| 2020 | 5 ha | 3 ha | 8 ha |
| 2021 | 9 ha | 9 ha | 17 ha |
| 2022 | 9 ha | 7 ha | 16 ha |
| 2023 | 29 ha | 8 ha | 37 ha |
| 2024 | 68 ha | 34 ha | 101 ha |
| 2025 | 34 ha | 42 ha | 76 ha |
The worst year was 2005, when about 142 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Punjab, India?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good44% · 656 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back5.8% · 88 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.6% · 84 ha
Also: logging, mining and energy, wildfires, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. How it's measured
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