SmogRank / Episodes / India

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, India, May 2026

For 5 days, from 16 to 20 May 2026, 11 cities in India had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Bettiah, Bihar, India: 321.0 µg/m³ on 16 May, about 14× its usual 22.8.

No cause namedWe have no fire or smoke records for these days, so we only say what the measurements show.
Cities reached11in 1 country
Days516 to 20 May 2026
Worst day16 May5 cities counted
Furthest above usual14×Bettiah

Day by day

16 May 5 cities at twice their usual or more
PatnaBihār SharīfRājgīrChāpraGayaMungerSiwānAurangābādMothīhāriSasarāmBhāgalpurJhariaPurniaKathmanduKatiharArāriaGorakhpurĀsansolRānīganjSiddharthanagarDurgapurSiliguriPrayagrajGangtokPhuntsholingSatnaLucknowVaranasiSamāstipurHājīpurSingrauliArrahMuzaffarpurBegusaraiKishanganjBuxarSaharsaBettiah
13 May14151617181920212223
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

BettiahBettiah, 13 May: no readingBettiah, 14 May: 88.9 µg/m³Bettiah, 15 May: no readingBettiah, 16 May: 321.0 µg/m³, 14× its usual 22.8Bettiah, 17 May: no readingBettiah, 18 May: 170.0 µg/m³, 8.2× its usual 20.7Bettiah, 19 May: no readingBettiah, 20 May: 24.9 µg/m³Bettiah, 21 May: no readingBettiah, 22 May: no readingBettiah, 23 May: 24.8 µg/m³SaharsaSaharsa, 13 May: 16.3 µg/m³Saharsa, 14 May: no readingSaharsa, 15 May: no readingSaharsa, 16 May: 128.0 µg/m³, 4.4× its usual 29.4Saharsa, 17 May: 41.9 µg/m³Saharsa, 18 May: 37.7 µg/m³Saharsa, 19 May: 34.9 µg/m³Saharsa, 20 May: 62.7 µg/m³Saharsa, 21 May: 24.9 µg/m³Saharsa, 22 May: 33.7 µg/m³Saharsa, 23 May: 42.0 µg/m³BegusaraiBegusarai, 13 May: 27.7 µg/m³Begusarai, 14 May: 34.8 µg/m³Begusarai, 15 May: 47.7 µg/m³Begusarai, 16 May: 67.2 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 30.2Begusarai, 17 May: 71.7 µg/m³, 2.6× its usual 28.0Begusarai, 18 May: 58.6 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 28.7Begusarai, 19 May: 45.9 µg/m³Begusarai, 20 May: 67.5 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 31.7Begusarai, 21 May: 43.0 µg/m³Begusarai, 22 May: 27.8 µg/m³Begusarai, 23 May: 38.9 µg/m³KishanganjKishanganj, 13 May: 40.3 µg/m³Kishanganj, 14 May: 54.4 µg/m³Kishanganj, 15 May: 62.1 µg/m³Kishanganj, 16 May: 58.1 µg/m³, 2.7× its usual 21.5Kishanganj, 17 May: 54.5 µg/m³, 2.7× its usual 20.4Kishanganj, 18 May: 53.4 µg/m³, 2.6× its usual 20.7Kishanganj, 19 May: 54.7 µg/m³, 2.5× its usual 21.9Kishanganj, 20 May: 56.5 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 25.7Kishanganj, 21 May: 47.8 µg/m³Kishanganj, 22 May: 51.6 µg/m³Kishanganj, 23 May: 47.8 µg/m³VaranasiVaranasi, 13 May: 29.4 µg/m³Varanasi, 14 May: 23.8 µg/m³Varanasi, 15 May: 35.0 µg/m³Varanasi, 16 May: 45.4 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 22.3Varanasi, 17 May: 40.3 µg/m³Varanasi, 18 May: 38.8 µg/m³Varanasi, 19 May: 29.0 µg/m³Varanasi, 20 May: 33.3 µg/m³Varanasi, 21 May: 38.4 µg/m³Varanasi, 22 May: 29.5 µg/m³Varanasi, 23 May: 40.4 µg/m³SingrauliSingrauli, 13 May: no readingSingrauli, 14 May: 60.1 µg/m³Singrauli, 15 May: 70.7 µg/m³Singrauli, 16 May: no readingSingrauli, 17 May: 100.0 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 45.2Singrauli, 18 May: no readingSingrauli, 19 May: 93.6 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 46.0Singrauli, 20 May: 97.9 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 46.9Singrauli, 21 May: 98.8 µg/m³Singrauli, 22 May: 109.0 µg/m³Singrauli, 23 May: 76.8 µg/m³HājīpurHājīpur, 13 May: 56.0 µg/m³Hājīpur, 14 May: 45.5 µg/m³Hājīpur, 15 May: 72.9 µg/m³Hājīpur, 16 May: 87.7 µg/m³Hājīpur, 17 May: 96.7 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 45.1Hājīpur, 18 May: 78.5 µg/m³Hājīpur, 19 May: 67.5 µg/m³Hājīpur, 20 May: 83.3 µg/m³Hājīpur, 21 May: 75.1 µg/m³Hājīpur, 22 May: 62.2 µg/m³Hājīpur, 23 May: 70.3 µg/m³ArrahArrah, 13 May: 16.2 µg/m³Arrah, 14 May: 16.0 µg/m³Arrah, 15 May: 23.0 µg/m³Arrah, 16 May: 26.5 µg/m³Arrah, 17 May: 37.1 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 16.1Arrah, 18 May: 32.3 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 16.1Arrah, 19 May: 21.7 µg/m³Arrah, 20 May: 28.6 µg/m³Arrah, 21 May: 24.5 µg/m³Arrah, 22 May: 20.4 µg/m³Arrah, 23 May: 32.2 µg/m³BuxarBuxar, 13 May: 30.7 µg/m³Buxar, 14 May: 27.1 µg/m³Buxar, 15 May: 34.3 µg/m³Buxar, 16 May: 36.0 µg/m³Buxar, 17 May: 40.5 µg/m³Buxar, 18 May: 94.6 µg/m³, 3.4× its usual 28.1Buxar, 19 May: 123.0 µg/m³, 4.3× its usual 28.5Buxar, 20 May: 56.3 µg/m³Buxar, 21 May: 55.8 µg/m³Buxar, 22 May: no readingBuxar, 23 May: 76.3 µg/m³SamāstipurSamāstipur, 13 May: no readingSamāstipur, 14 May: no readingSamāstipur, 15 May: no readingSamāstipur, 16 May: no readingSamāstipur, 17 May: no readingSamāstipur, 18 May: no readingSamāstipur, 19 May: 52.4 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 26.1Samāstipur, 20 May: 18.7 µg/m³Samāstipur, 21 May: no readingSamāstipur, 22 May: no readingSamāstipur, 23 May: no readingMuzaffarpurMuzaffarpur, 13 May: 47.3 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 14 May: 42.2 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 15 May: 51.8 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 16 May: 46.0 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 17 May: 47.5 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 18 May: 53.7 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 19 May: 44.7 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 20 May: 76.0 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 32.4Muzaffarpur, 21 May: 44.5 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 22 May: 45.3 µg/m³Muzaffarpur, 23 May: 53.6 µg/m³13 May1517192123
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.
Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

Every city it reached

CityDaysHighestUsualAbove usual
BettiahBihar, India2 321.016 May22.814×
SaharsaBihar, India1 128.016 May29.44.4×
BuxarBihar, India2 123.019 May28.54.3×
KishanganjBihar, India5 58.116 May21.52.7×
BegusaraiBihar, India4 71.717 May28.02.6×
MuzaffarpurBihar, India1 76.020 May32.42.3×
ArrahBihar, India2 37.117 May16.12.3×
SingrauliMadhya Pradesh, India3 100.017 May45.22.2×
HājīpurBihar, India1 96.717 May45.12.1×
SamāstipurBihar, India1 52.419 May26.12.0×
VaranasiUttar Pradesh, India1 45.416 May22.32.0×

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 35 of 54 episodes in India since our records began, by cities reached.

Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 54.

Use this page

SmogRank, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, India, May 2026: 11 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 16 to 20 May 2026, smogrank.com/episodes/2026-05-bihar-madhya-pradesh-and-uttar-pradesh-india (accessed 4 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.