City report · India
Shillong Air quality today
Air quality in Shillong currently reads AQI 36 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 36
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.3
- tree cover
- 44.9%
- trees in this area
- 141K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Secretariat Hills, Shillong, Meghalaya 793001, India (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 27, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Shillong · AQI 36 (Good)
Shillong's tree count comes to 141,058 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Shillong today: AQI 36, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 03:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 250 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 8 station cities within 250 km, e.g. Guwahati and Barbheti
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.3
PM10
7.3
NO₂
8.4
O₃
28.0
SO₂
1.2
CO
227.0
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Shillong's daily AQI at 60 on average, from 37 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 102 on Nov 5.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from India's AQI (CPCB) · The full guide
Where Shillong stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Shillong: Healthy tree cover
44.9% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
141,058
Target trees
141,058
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Shillong lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Shillong has lost about 2,400 hectares of forest (about 3,400 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (56%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2,400 haabout 3,400 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 15%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,350 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 83 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 116 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2007, when about 210 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 | 30 ha | 28 ha | 58 ha |
| 2002 | 24 ha | 26 ha | 50 ha |
| 2003 | 11 ha | 6 ha | 17 ha |
| 2004 | 58 ha | 37 ha | 95 ha |
| 2005 | 38 ha | 63 ha | 101 ha |
| 2006 | 73 ha | 58 ha | 131 ha |
| 2007 | 88 ha | 122 ha | 210 ha |
| 2008 | 67 ha | 81 ha | 148 ha |
| 2009 | 64 ha | 55 ha | 119 ha |
| 2010 | 57 ha | 26 ha | 83 ha |
| 2011 | 45 ha | 26 ha | 72 ha |
| 2012 | 41 ha | 13 ha | 54 ha |
| 2013 | 39 ha | 25 ha | 63 ha |
| 2014 | 72 ha | 47 ha | 119 ha |
| 2015 | 65 ha | 19 ha | 84 ha |
| 2016 | 75 ha | 37 ha | 112 ha |
| 2017 | 92 ha | 53 ha | 145 ha |
| 2018 | 61 ha | 59 ha | 120 ha |
| 2019 | 58 ha | 59 ha | 117 ha |
| 2020 | 49 ha | 39 ha | 87 ha |
| 2021 | 29 ha | 18 ha | 47 ha |
| 2022 | 38 ha | 25 ha | 62 ha |
| 2023 | 50 ha | 28 ha | 77 ha |
| 2024 | 60 ha | 28 ha | 88 ha |
| 2025 | 69 ha | 70 ha | 139 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Shillong?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good37% · 890 ha
- Loggingcan grow back31% · 753 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good18% · 443 ha
Also: shifting farming, mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
- 20,200 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 19,900 ha
- Overall change
- −338 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Shillong stayed about the same size, at about 19,900 hectares: new forest grew on about 705 hectares, and about 1,040 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Shillong
What is the air quality (AQI) in Shillong right now?
The latest reading for Shillong shows an AQI of 36 (Good), observed Nov 11, 03:30 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 8 ground-station cities within 250 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Shillong today?
At AQI 36 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Shillong been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Shillong's daily AQI at 60 on average, from 37 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 102 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Shillong'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 Shillong lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Shillong has lost about 2,400 hectares of forest (about 3,400 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (56%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 83 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 116 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Shillong stayed about the same size, at about 19,900 hectares: new forest grew on about 705 hectares, and about 1,040 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Shillong?
Shillong has an estimated 141,058 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 44.9% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Shillong need?
Shillong has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Shillong'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 Secretariat Hills; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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