SmogRank / Episodes / India
North-western India, March 2025
For 3 days, from 26 to 28 March 2025, 13 cities in India had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Loni, Uttar Pradesh, India: 326.0 µg/m³ on 27 March, about 3.0× its usual 108.0.
No cause named We have no fire or smoke records for these days, so we only say what the measurements show.
Cities reached 13 in 1 country
Days 3 26 to 28 March 2025
Worst day 26 March 8 cities counted
Furthest above usual 20× Rishīkesh
Day by day
Play 26 March 8 cities at twice their usual or more
Charkhi Dādri Bhiwadi Alwar Jhunjhunūn Gurugram Najafgarh Aya Nagar Dera Māndi Bawāna Faridabad Delhi Sīkar Noida Dausa Jaipur Chūru Ghāziābād Dādri Vrindāvan Khurja Bulandshahr Hāpur Meerut Karauli Tonk Agra Muzaffarnagar Dhaulpur Ajmer Fīrozābād Bathinda Khanna Mohali Nāgaur Morādābād Gwalior Būndi Ludhiana Dehradun Ropar Bikaner Baddi Kota Bārān Bhilwara Bareilly Nandri Jodhpur Pāli Rājsamand Kanpur Jalor Greater Noida Chandigarh Sawai Madhopur Narela Patiāla Sri Ganganagar Gobindgarh Bharatpur Bāghpat Jhānsi Hanumāngarh Loni Rishīkesh
23 Mar 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
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
Loni Loni, 23 March: 255.0 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Loni, 24 March: no reading Loni, 25 March: no reading Loni, 26 March: 287.0 µg/m³, 2.7× usual Loni, 27 March: 326.0 µg/m³, 3.0× usual Loni, 28 March: 219.0 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Loni, 29 March: 166.0 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Loni, 30 March: 159.0 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Loni, 31 March: 172.0 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Bāghpat Bāghpat, 23 March: 119.0 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Bāghpat, 24 March: no reading Bāghpat, 25 March: no reading Bāghpat, 26 March: 130.0 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Bāghpat, 27 March: 121.0 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Bāghpat, 28 March: no reading Bāghpat, 29 March: no reading Bāghpat, 30 March: 44.8 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Bāghpat, 31 March: 58.6 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Hanumāngarh Hanumāngarh, 23 March: 76.5 µg/m³, 3.2× usual Hanumāngarh, 24 March: 65.7 µg/m³, 2.7× usual Hanumāngarh, 25 March: no reading Hanumāngarh, 26 March: 62.4 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Hanumāngarh, 27 March: 45.8 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Hanumāngarh, 28 March: 53.9 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Hanumāngarh, 29 March: 69.9 µg/m³, 2.9× usual Hanumāngarh, 30 March: 75.3 µg/m³, 3.1× usual Hanumāngarh, 31 March: 61.5 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Rishīkesh Rishīkesh, 23 March: 44.3 µg/m³, 8.9× usual Rishīkesh, 24 March: no reading Rishīkesh, 25 March: no reading Rishīkesh, 26 March: 97.6 µg/m³, 20× usual Rishīkesh, 27 March: 38.1 µg/m³, 7.6× usual Rishīkesh, 28 March: 33.3 µg/m³, 6.7× usual Rishīkesh, 29 March: 36.9 µg/m³, 7.4× usual Rishīkesh, 30 March: 25.4 µg/m³, 5.1× usual Rishīkesh, 31 March: 30.7 µg/m³, 6.1× usual Sri Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar, 23 March: 55.2 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Sri Ganganagar, 24 March: 64.4 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Sri Ganganagar, 25 March: 65.3 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Sri Ganganagar, 26 March: 69.3 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Sri Ganganagar, 27 March: 43.7 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Sri Ganganagar, 28 March: 48.3 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Sri Ganganagar, 29 March: 46.3 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Sri Ganganagar, 30 March: 42.6 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Sri Ganganagar, 31 March: 53.7 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Patiāla Patiāla, 23 March: 57.6 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Patiāla, 24 March: 56.5 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Patiāla, 25 March: 67.4 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Patiāla, 26 March: no reading Patiāla, 27 March: 68.9 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Patiāla, 28 March: 54.8 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Patiāla, 29 March: 28.6 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Patiāla, 30 March: 25.8 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Patiāla, 31 March: 40.6 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Sawai Madhopur Sawai Madhopur, 23 March: 39.6 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Sawai Madhopur, 24 March: 49.3 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Sawai Madhopur, 25 March: 54.0 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Sawai Madhopur, 26 March: 57.4 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Sawai Madhopur, 27 March: 51.2 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Sawai Madhopur, 28 March: 35.4 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Sawai Madhopur, 29 March: 36.4 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Sawai Madhopur, 30 March: 47.2 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Sawai Madhopur, 31 March: 50.7 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Jhānsi Jhānsi, 23 March: 21.2 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Jhānsi, 24 March: 31.7 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Jhānsi, 25 March: 46.9 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Jhānsi, 26 March: 45.3 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Jhānsi, 27 March: 52.2 µg/m³, 2.9× usual Jhānsi, 28 March: 36.0 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Jhānsi, 29 March: 34.8 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Jhānsi, 30 March: 34.6 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Jhānsi, 31 March: 41.9 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Bharatpur Bharatpur, 23 March: 42.1 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Bharatpur, 24 March: 47.9 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Bharatpur, 25 March: 45.9 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Bharatpur, 26 March: 68.3 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Bharatpur, 27 March: 56.7 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Bharatpur, 28 March: 31.5 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Bharatpur, 29 March: 20.5 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Bharatpur, 30 March: 20.4 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Bharatpur, 31 March: 36.0 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Narela Narela, 23 March: 144.0 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Narela, 24 March: 112.0 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Narela, 25 March: 142.0 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Narela, 26 March: 130.0 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Narela, 27 March: 179.0 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Narela, 28 March: 71.2 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Narela, 29 March: 38.1 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Narela, 30 March: 53.4 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Narela, 31 March: 69.9 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Greater Noida Greater Noida, 23 March: 34.8 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Greater Noida, 24 March: 47.3 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Greater Noida, 25 March: 61.2 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Greater Noida, 26 March: 53.8 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Greater Noida, 27 March: 80.7 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Greater Noida, 28 March: 20.9 µg/m³, 0.5× usual Greater Noida, 29 March: 11.1 µg/m³, 0.3× usual Greater Noida, 30 March: 13.9 µg/m³, 0.3× usual Greater Noida, 31 March: 22.2 µg/m³, 0.6× usual Chandigarh Chandigarh, 23 March: 59.2 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Chandigarh, 24 March: 69.0 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Chandigarh, 25 March: 65.0 µg/m³, 1.9× usual Chandigarh, 26 March: 61.5 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Chandigarh, 27 March: 69.4 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Chandigarh, 28 March: 50.8 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Chandigarh, 29 March: 30.4 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Chandigarh, 30 March: 39.2 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Chandigarh, 31 March: 43.1 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Gobindgarh Gobindgarh, 23 March: 49.5 µg/m³, 1.0× usual Gobindgarh, 24 March: 40.0 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Gobindgarh, 25 March: 45.4 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Gobindgarh, 26 March: 71.7 µg/m³, 1.5× usual Gobindgarh, 27 March: 40.7 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Gobindgarh, 28 March: 117.0 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Gobindgarh, 29 March: 52.5 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Gobindgarh, 30 March: 43.4 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Gobindgarh, 31 March: 43.7 µg/m³, 0.9× usual 23 Mar 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 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
Rishīkesh Uttarakhand, India 3 97.626 March 1.2 20× Hanumāngarh Rajasthan, India 2 76.523 March 24.2 3.2× Loni Uttar Pradesh, India 3 326.027 March 108.0 3.0× Jhānsi Uttar Pradesh, India 1 52.227 March 17.9 2.9× Bāghpat Uttar Pradesh, India 2 130.026 March 51.9 2.5× Bharatpur Rajasthan, India 1 68.326 March 28.7 2.4× Gobindgarh Punjab, India 1 117.028 March 49.2 2.4× Sri Ganganagar Rajasthan, India 1 69.326 March 29.8 2.3× Narela Delhi, India 1 179.027 March 79.8 2.2× Patiāla Punjab, India 1 68.927 March 30.8 2.2× Sawai Madhopur Rajasthan, India 1 57.426 March 26.9 2.1× Chandigarh Chandigarh, India 1 69.427 March 34.1 2.0× Greater Noida Uttar Pradesh, India 1 80.727 March 40.0 2.0×
Daily means in µg/m³. Usual: the city's median for this time of year (its days within 21 days of the date, every year, leaving out the week around it). Above usual: its highest day against that.
Against other episodes in India
Number 25 of 54 episodes in India since our records began, by cities reached.
North-western India, October 2025 170 North-western India, September 2026 57 North-western India, July 2026 51 North-western India, June 2025 47 North-eastern India, March and April 2025 45 North-western India, November 2025 27 North-western India, April 2026 26 North-western India, April and May 2025 26 North-western India and Pakistan, March 2026 25 North-western India, May 2025 23 North-eastern India, July 2026 22 North-eastern India, April 2025 20 North-western India, March 2025 13
Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 54 .
Use this page SmogRank, North-western India, March 2025: 13 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 26 to 28 March 2025, smogrank.com/episodes/2025-03-north-western-india (accessed 2 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.