SmogRank / Episodes / India
Happening now, updated daily
Maharashtra and Karnataka, India, September and October 2026
For 2 days so far, since 30 September, 16 cities in India had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Ankleshwar, Gujarat, India: 85.9 µg/m³ on 1 October, about 2.5× its usual 33.7.
Few fires were detected near these cities on those days. Spreads like this usually come from still weather trapping smoke from heating, traffic and industry, or from dust.
Cities reached 16 in 1 country
Days 2 30 September to 1 October 2026
Worst day 1 October 16 cities counted
Furthest above usual 3.9× Tirumala
Day by day
Play 1 October 16 cities at twice their usual or more
Kalaburagi Sangāreddi Patancheru Serilingampalle Hyderabad Quthbullapur Gadag-Betageri Sāngli Hubballi Kolhāpur Belagavi Anantapur Ahilyanagar Kadapa Akola Chik Ballāpur Amravati Badlapur Jalgaon Malegaon Panvel Vijayawada Nashik Kharghar Kalyān Dhule Bhiwandi Thāne Mumbai Bengaluru Udupi Tirupati Virār Mangaluru Nagpur Chittoor Boisar Madikeri Vapi Gummidipundi Chennai Neelankarai Surat Undera Parbhani Amaravati Pune Closepet Latur Aurangabad Nanded Sholapur Amīnpur Mahād Ankleshwar Pimpri-Chinchwad Bhayandar Chānda Yadgir Tirumala 27 Sep 28 29 30 1 Oct 2 3 4 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
Parbhani Parbhani, 27 September: 61.9 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Parbhani, 28 September: 38.1 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Parbhani, 29 September: 35.6 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Parbhani, 30 September: 47.1 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Parbhani, 1 October: 56.4 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Parbhani, 2 October: no reading Parbhani, 3 October: no reading Parbhani, 4 October: no reading Tirumala Tirumala, 27 September: 28.1 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Tirumala, 28 September: 39.9 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Tirumala, 29 September: 42.6 µg/m³, 2.7× usual Tirumala, 30 September: 49.5 µg/m³, 3.2× usual Tirumala, 1 October: 61.0 µg/m³, 3.9× usual Tirumala, 2 October: no reading Tirumala, 3 October: no reading Tirumala, 4 October: no reading Chānda Chānda, 27 September: 19.0 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Chānda, 28 September: 28.3 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Chānda, 29 September: 53.2 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Chānda, 30 September: 69.3 µg/m³, 3.0× usual Chānda, 1 October: 65.3 µg/m³, 2.9× usual Chānda, 2 October: no reading Chānda, 3 October: no reading Chānda, 4 October: no reading Pimpri-Chinchwad Pimpri-Chinchwad, 27 September: 13.5 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Pimpri-Chinchwad, 28 September: 17.8 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Pimpri-Chinchwad, 29 September: 35.2 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Pimpri-Chinchwad, 30 September: 42.6 µg/m³, 2.6× usual Pimpri-Chinchwad, 1 October: 47.1 µg/m³, 2.9× usual Pimpri-Chinchwad, 2 October: no reading Pimpri-Chinchwad, 3 October: no reading Pimpri-Chinchwad, 4 October: no reading Aurangabad Aurangabad, 27 September: no reading Aurangabad, 28 September: 27.8 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Aurangabad, 29 September: 32.9 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Aurangabad, 30 September: 57.3 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Aurangabad, 1 October: 65.9 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Aurangabad, 2 October: no reading Aurangabad, 3 October: no reading Aurangabad, 4 October: no reading Mahād Mahād, 27 September: 20.0 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Mahād, 28 September: 24.4 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Mahād, 29 September: 26.4 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Mahād, 30 September: 49.6 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Mahād, 1 October: 52.3 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Mahād, 2 October: no reading Mahād, 3 October: no reading Mahād, 4 October: no reading Nanded Nanded, 27 September: 34.5 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Nanded, 28 September: no reading Nanded, 29 September: no reading Nanded, 30 September: 46.0 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Nanded, 1 October: 56.9 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Nanded, 2 October: no reading Nanded, 3 October: no reading Nanded, 4 October: no reading Amīnpur Amīnpur, 27 September: no reading Amīnpur, 28 September: no reading Amīnpur, 29 September: no reading Amīnpur, 30 September: 45.0 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Amīnpur, 1 October: 47.1 µg/m³, 2.4× usual Amīnpur, 2 October: no reading Amīnpur, 3 October: no reading Amīnpur, 4 October: no reading Sholapur Sholapur, 27 September: 23.7 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Sholapur, 28 September: 30.7 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Sholapur, 29 September: 24.9 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Sholapur, 30 September: 43.2 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Sholapur, 1 October: 42.6 µg/m³, 2.3× usual Sholapur, 2 October: no reading Sholapur, 3 October: no reading Sholapur, 4 October: no reading Bhayandar Bhayandar, 27 September: 11.2 µg/m³, 0.7× usual Bhayandar, 28 September: no reading Bhayandar, 29 September: no reading Bhayandar, 30 September: 40.3 µg/m³, 2.7× usual Bhayandar, 1 October: 45.5 µg/m³, 3.0× usual Bhayandar, 2 October: no reading Bhayandar, 3 October: no reading Bhayandar, 4 October: no reading Yadgir Yadgir, 27 September: 14.4 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Yadgir, 28 September: 20.6 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Yadgir, 29 September: 17.8 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Yadgir, 30 September: 29.6 µg/m³, 2.8× usual Yadgir, 1 October: 36.9 µg/m³, 3.5× usual Yadgir, 2 October: no reading Yadgir, 3 October: no reading Yadgir, 4 October: no reading Ankleshwar Ankleshwar, 27 September: no reading Ankleshwar, 28 September: no reading Ankleshwar, 29 September: 42.2 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Ankleshwar, 30 September: 61.6 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Ankleshwar, 1 October: 85.9 µg/m³, 2.5× usual Ankleshwar, 2 October: no reading Ankleshwar, 3 October: no reading Ankleshwar, 4 October: no reading Pune Pune, 27 September: 16.4 µg/m³, 0.8× usual Pune, 28 September: 17.9 µg/m³, 0.9× usual Pune, 29 September: 24.7 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Pune, 30 September: 31.7 µg/m³, 1.6× usual Pune, 1 October: 41.0 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Pune, 2 October: no reading Pune, 3 October: no reading Pune, 4 October: no reading Amaravati Amaravati, 27 September: 30.3 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Amaravati, 28 September: 23.7 µg/m³, 1.4× usual Amaravati, 29 September: 30.3 µg/m³, 1.8× usual Amaravati, 30 September: 32.3 µg/m³, 2.0× usual Amaravati, 1 October: 34.2 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Amaravati, 2 October: no reading Amaravati, 3 October: no reading Amaravati, 4 October: no reading Closepet Closepet, 27 September: 17.9 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Closepet, 28 September: 27.0 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Closepet, 29 September: 18.5 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Closepet, 30 September: 18.5 µg/m³, 1.2× usual Closepet, 1 October: 33.6 µg/m³, 2.1× usual Closepet, 2 October: no reading Closepet, 3 October: no reading Closepet, 4 October: no reading Latur Latur, 27 September: 19.5 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Latur, 28 September: 19.7 µg/m³, 1.3× usual Latur, 29 September: 16.8 µg/m³, 1.1× usual Latur, 30 September: 24.9 µg/m³, 1.7× usual Latur, 1 October: 32.9 µg/m³, 2.2× usual Latur, 2 October: no reading Latur, 3 October: no reading Latur, 4 October: no reading 27 Sep 28 29 30 1 Oct 2 3 4 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
Tirumala Andhra Pradesh, India 1 1 October 15.5 3.9× Yadgir Karnataka, India 2 1 October 10.4 3.5× Chānda Maharashtra, India 2 30 September 22.9 3.0× Bhayandar Maharashtra, India 2 1 October 15.2 3.0× Pimpri-Chinchwad Maharashtra, India 2 1 October 16.4 2.9× Ankleshwar Gujarat, India 1 1 October 33.7 2.5× Amīnpur Telangana, India 2 1 October 19.6 2.4× Mahād Maharashtra, India 2 1 October 21.8 2.4× Sholapur Maharashtra, India 2 30 September 18.9 2.3× Aurangabad Maharashtra, India 2 1 October 29.3 2.2× Latur Maharashtra, India 1 1 October 14.7 2.2× Nanded Maharashtra, India 2 1 October 25.5 2.2× Parbhani Maharashtra, India 1 27 September 27.8 2.2× Closepet Karnataka, India 1 1 October 15.8 2.1× Pune Maharashtra, India 1 1 October 19.5 2.1× Amaravati Andhra Pradesh, India 1 1 October 16.5 2.1×
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 14 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 Maharashtra and Karnataka, India, September and October 2026 16 Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 54 .
Use this page SmogRank, Maharashtra and Karnataka, India, September and October 2026: 16 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 30 September to 1 October 2026, smogrank.com/episodes/2026-09-maharashtra-and-karnataka-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. Fire detections from NASA FIRMS; smoke maps from NOAA HMS.
