SmogRank / Episodes / India
India, March 2025
For 4 days, from 11 to 14 March 2025, 15 cities in India had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Siltara, Chhattisgarh, India: 215.0 µg/m³ on 12 March, about 5.1× its usual 42.2. Ended 14 March.
No cause named We have no fire or smoke records for these days, so we only say what the measurements show.
Cities reached 15 in 1 country
Days 4 11 to 14 March 2025
Worst day 14 March 8 cities counted
Furthest above usual 5.1× Siltara
Day by day
Play 14 March 8 cities at twice their usual or more
Gaya Bihār Sharīf Arrah Buxar Chāpra Hājīpur Singrauli Barbil Joda Begusarai Samāstipur Siwān Muzaffarpur Āsansol Munger Keonjhargarh Durena Bhelai Rānīganj Bhāgalpur Mothīhāri Saharsa Baripāda Bilāspur Angul Gorakhpur Prayagraj Byasanagar Katihar Cuttack Arāria Satna Maihar Shrīrāmpur Raipur Haldia Kolkata Kishanganj Bhilai Durg Lucknow Siliguri Kanpur Varanasi Bettiah Belpahar Jājang Patna Koīra Durgapur Rourkela Purnia Rājgīr Sasarām Dera Colliery Township Rairangpur Aurangābād Siltara 8 Mar 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Every measured city in the area, coloured by its PM2.5 that day; a dark ring marks a city at twice its usual or more. Bars: cities counted each day, coloured by their median level. Choose a day or press play; without JavaScript, the days link to that day's world ranking.
How it spread
Purnia Purnia, 8 March: no reading Purnia, 9 March: 106.0 µg/m³ Purnia, 10 March: 103.0 µg/m³ Purnia, 11 March: 119.0 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 53.3 Purnia, 12 March: 95.7 µg/m³ Purnia, 13 March: 66.9 µg/m³ Purnia, 14 March: 67.1 µg/m³ Purnia, 15 March: 101.0 µg/m³ Purnia, 16 March: 88.7 µg/m³ Purnia, 17 March: 38.9 µg/m³ Sasarām Sasarām, 8 March: 90.2 µg/m³ Sasarām, 9 March: 89.2 µg/m³ Sasarām, 10 March: 121.0 µg/m³ Sasarām, 11 March: 108.0 µg/m³, 2.7× its usual 39.7 Sasarām, 12 March: 74.6 µg/m³ Sasarām, 13 March: 78.5 µg/m³ Sasarām, 14 March: 74.0 µg/m³ Sasarām, 15 March: 61.7 µg/m³ Sasarām, 16 March: 66.2 µg/m³ Sasarām, 17 March: 52.8 µg/m³ Aurangābād Aurangābād, 8 March: no reading Aurangābād, 9 March: no reading Aurangābād, 10 March: no reading Aurangābād, 11 March: 101.0 µg/m³, 4.5× its usual 22.2 Aurangābād, 12 March: 74.1 µg/m³, 3.3× its usual 22.2 Aurangābād, 13 March: 71.0 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 22.2 Aurangābād, 14 March: 70.7 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 22.0 Aurangābād, 15 March: 52.6 µg/m³ Aurangābād, 16 March: 64.2 µg/m³ Aurangābād, 17 March: 62.6 µg/m³ Rājgīr Rājgīr, 8 March: 33.4 µg/m³ Rājgīr, 9 March: 41.0 µg/m³ Rājgīr, 10 March: 102.0 µg/m³ Rājgīr, 11 March: 77.9 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 33.3 Rājgīr, 12 March: no reading Rājgīr, 13 March: no reading Rājgīr, 14 March: no reading Rājgīr, 15 March: no reading Rājgīr, 16 March: 27.2 µg/m³ Rājgīr, 17 March: 18.3 µg/m³ Bettiah Bettiah, 8 March: no reading Bettiah, 9 March: no reading Bettiah, 10 March: no reading Bettiah, 11 March: 76.0 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 36.0 Bettiah, 12 March: 74.7 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 35.8 Bettiah, 13 March: 51.2 µg/m³ Bettiah, 14 March: 66.1 µg/m³ Bettiah, 15 March: 41.6 µg/m³ Bettiah, 16 March: 52.1 µg/m³ Bettiah, 17 March: 30.4 µg/m³ Siltara Siltara, 8 March: 74.0 µg/m³ Siltara, 9 March: 61.3 µg/m³ Siltara, 10 March: no reading Siltara, 11 March: 50.5 µg/m³ Siltara, 12 March: 215.0 µg/m³, 5.1× its usual 42.2 Siltara, 13 March: 122.0 µg/m³ Siltara, 14 March: 72.0 µg/m³ Siltara, 15 March: 65.8 µg/m³ Siltara, 16 March: 74.8 µg/m³ Siltara, 17 March: no reading Dera Colliery Towns… Dera Colliery Township, 8 March: 89.4 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 9 March: 46.2 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 10 March: 46.5 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 11 March: 78.2 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 12 March: 95.0 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 45.6 Dera Colliery Township, 13 March: 124.0 µg/m³, 2.7× its usual 46.5 Dera Colliery Township, 14 March: 73.2 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 15 March: 53.1 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 16 March: 52.1 µg/m³ Dera Colliery Township, 17 March: no reading Belpahar Belpahar, 8 March: 74.9 µg/m³ Belpahar, 9 March: 63.9 µg/m³ Belpahar, 10 March: 64.3 µg/m³ Belpahar, 11 March: 63.2 µg/m³ Belpahar, 12 March: 92.1 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 44.3 Belpahar, 13 March: 84.8 µg/m³ Belpahar, 14 March: 69.0 µg/m³ Belpahar, 15 March: 60.7 µg/m³ Belpahar, 16 March: 67.7 µg/m³ Belpahar, 17 March: 54.4 µg/m³ Durgapur Durgapur, 8 March: 76.3 µg/m³ Durgapur, 9 March: 72.8 µg/m³ Durgapur, 10 March: 71.1 µg/m³ Durgapur, 11 March: 80.4 µg/m³ Durgapur, 12 March: 87.9 µg/m³ Durgapur, 13 March: 100.3 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 45.3 Durgapur, 14 March: 99.7 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 45.3 Durgapur, 15 March: 89.4 µg/m³ Durgapur, 16 March: 77.8 µg/m³ Durgapur, 17 March: 84.9 µg/m³ Rairangpur Rairangpur, 8 March: 49.7 µg/m³ Rairangpur, 9 March: no reading Rairangpur, 10 March: 47.0 µg/m³ Rairangpur, 11 March: 66.8 µg/m³ Rairangpur, 12 March: 63.0 µg/m³ Rairangpur, 13 March: 76.5 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 35.1 Rairangpur, 14 March: 114.0 µg/m³, 3.3× its usual 34.5 Rairangpur, 15 March: 95.2 µg/m³ Rairangpur, 16 March: no reading Rairangpur, 17 March: no reading Koīra Koīra, 8 March: 53.7 µg/m³ Koīra, 9 March: 43.8 µg/m³ Koīra, 10 March: 38.8 µg/m³ Koīra, 11 March: 32.0 µg/m³ Koīra, 12 March: 38.6 µg/m³ Koīra, 13 March: 74.0 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 35.5 Koīra, 14 March: 78.8 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 36.5 Koīra, 15 March: 51.4 µg/m³ Koīra, 16 March: 63.3 µg/m³ Koīra, 17 March: 42.3 µg/m³ Patna Patna, 8 March: 89.7 µg/m³ Patna, 9 March: 94.0 µg/m³ Patna, 10 March: 92.6 µg/m³ Patna, 11 March: 92.6 µg/m³ Patna, 12 March: 82.5 µg/m³ Patna, 13 March: 95.4 µg/m³ Patna, 14 March: 122.0 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 56.8 Patna, 15 March: 68.3 µg/m³ Patna, 16 March: 66.7 µg/m³ Patna, 17 March: 42.6 µg/m³ Rourkela Rourkela, 8 March: 71.8 µg/m³ Rourkela, 9 March: 87.2 µg/m³ Rourkela, 10 March: 82.3 µg/m³ Rourkela, 11 March: 83.5 µg/m³ Rourkela, 12 March: 87.4 µg/m³ Rourkela, 13 March: 102.5 µg/m³ Rourkela, 14 March: 115.0 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 51.9 Rourkela, 15 March: 90.6 µg/m³ Rourkela, 16 March: 106.0 µg/m³ Rourkela, 17 March: 70.7 µg/m³ Jājang Jājang, 8 March: 77.5 µg/m³ Jājang, 9 March: 76.7 µg/m³ Jājang, 10 March: 68.1 µg/m³ Jājang, 11 March: 62.0 µg/m³ Jājang, 12 March: 73.3 µg/m³ Jājang, 13 March: no reading Jājang, 14 March: 112.0 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 52.2 Jājang, 15 March: 126.0 µg/m³ Jājang, 16 March: 120.0 µg/m³ Jājang, 17 March: 78.4 µg/m³ Varanasi Varanasi, 8 March: 11.8 µg/m³ Varanasi, 9 March: 14.5 µg/m³ Varanasi, 10 March: 11.3 µg/m³ Varanasi, 11 March: 12.3 µg/m³ Varanasi, 12 March: 9.6 µg/m³ Varanasi, 13 March: 25.1 µg/m³ Varanasi, 14 March: 52.0 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 25.9 Varanasi, 15 March: 30.7 µg/m³ Varanasi, 16 March: 31.2 µg/m³ Varanasi, 17 March: 10.7 µg/m³ 8 Mar 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Every counted city, in the order the episode reached them, 3 days before to 3 after. Each square is a day, coloured by that day's PM2.5; outlined: at twice the city's usual or more. Good 0–50
Moderate 51–100
Sensitive groups 101–150
Unhealthy 151–200
Very unhealthy 201–300
Hazardous 301+
Every city it reached
City Days Highest Usual Above usual
Siltara Chhattisgarh, India 1 12 March 42.2 5.1× Aurangābād Bihar, India 4 11 March 22.2 4.5× Rairangpur Odisha, India 2 14 March 34.5 3.3× Dera Colliery Township Odisha, India 2 13 March 46.5 2.7× Sasarām Bihar, India 1 11 March 39.7 2.7× Rājgīr Bihar, India 1 11 March 33.3 2.3× Purnia Bihar, India 1 11 March 53.3 2.2× Rourkela Odisha, India 1 14 March 51.9 2.2× Durgapur West Bengal, India 2 13 March 45.3 2.2× Koīra Odisha, India 2 14 March 36.5 2.2× Patna Bihar, India 1 14 March 56.8 2.1× Jājang Odisha, India 1 14 March 52.2 2.1× Belpahar Odisha, India 1 12 March 44.3 2.1× Bettiah Bihar, India 2 11 March 36.0 2.1× Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, India 1 14 March 25.9 2.0×
Daily means in µg/m³, over the days each city counted in this episode. Highest: its highest of those days. Usual: the city's median for the time of year of that day (its days within 21 days of the date, every year, leaving out the week around it). Above usual: its highest day against that, with a usual under 5 µg/m³ taken as 5.
Against other episodes in India
Number 24 of 61 episodes in India since our records began, by cities reached.
India and Pakistan, October 2025 178 Western India and Pakistan, September 2026 59 North-western India, 9 to 20 July 2026 53 Northern India, March and April 2025 52 Northern India and Pakistan, June 2025 49 North-western India, November 2025 29 North-western India and Pakistan, April and May 2025 27 North-western India, 21 to 29 April 2026 26 North-western India and Pakistan, March 2026 26 Northern India, July 2025 25 North-eastern India, July 2026 23 North-western India, 15 to 16 May 2025 23 India, March 2025 15 Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 61 .
Use this page SmogRank, India, March 2025: 15 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 11 to 14 March 2025, smogrank.com/episodes/2025-03-india (accessed 5 October 2026).
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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms .
An episode is a run of days when many cities close to each other (four or more within 350 km on a day, 8 or more in all) each had a daily PM2.5 mean of at least 25 µg/m³ and at least 2 times their usual for that time of year. Found in our own measurements, not picked by hand. How we find episodes . Values are each city's daily mean of its own monitors; causes are the usual kinds for a pattern like this, not a confirmed source.
