SmogRank / Episodes / India

Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India, October 2026

For 1 day, on 3 October 2026, 9 cities in India had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Ghāziābād, Uttar Pradesh, India: 106.0 µg/m³ on 3 October, about 2.2× its usual 47.3. Ended 3 October.

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 reached9in 1 country
Days13 October 2026
Worst day3 October9 cities counted
Furthest above usual2.6×Vrindāvan

Day by day

3 October 9 cities at twice their usual or more
GwaliorJhānsiKarauliDhaulpurBārānBharatpurAgraFīrozābādJhālāwārKotaTonkBūndiAlwarSaugorJaipurNagīnaBhopalPalwalDamohMandideepBhiwadiDhāruheraFaridabadMānesarDera MāndiNarnaulGreater NoidaAya NagarKanpurGurugramDādriNoidaDelhiNajafgarhBhilwaraHāpurLoniBahadurgarhAjmerChittorgarhSīkarBawānaCharkhi DādriNarelaBāghpatMeerutPratāpgarhJhunjhunūnMorādābādSonīpatRohtakSatnaJabalpurMaiharBhiwāniLucknowRatlāmPithampurChūruRājsamandBānswāraHisarUdaipurBargaonNāgaurPrayagrajPāliDūngarpurBikanerRanoliUnderaSawai MadhopurBareillyBulandshahrDewasGhāziābādIndoreKhurjaDausaVrindāvan

On the map: 55 fire detections.

30 Sep1 Oct23456
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.
  • Fires, seenHeat NASA satellites detected that day; bigger and glowing means more detections in the area. Farm burning and other fires count too, not only wildfires.
  • Volcanic ash, warnedA volcano with an ash warning for aircraft that day; shaded where forecasters saw the ash cloud.

Under the cities, for each UTC day: fires NASA satellites detected, smoke NOAA analysts traced and volcanic ash warnings for aircraft. They show what was in the air, not that it caused the readings.

Fires: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS). Traced smoke: NOAA Hazard Mapping System. Volcanic ash: aviation ash warnings (SIGMETs) via NOAA's Aviation Weather Center.

How it spread

GhāziābādGhāziābād, 30 September: 81.9 µg/m³Ghāziābād, 1 October: 87.5 µg/m³Ghāziābād, 2 October: no readingGhāziābād, 3 October: 106.0 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 47.3Ghāziābād, 4 October: 91.7 µg/m³Ghāziābād, 5 October: 145.0 µg/m³Ghāziābād, 6 October: 115.0 µg/m³BulandshahrBulandshahr, 30 September: 61.5 µg/m³Bulandshahr, 1 October: 73.9 µg/m³Bulandshahr, 2 October: no readingBulandshahr, 3 October: 86.0 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 41.7Bulandshahr, 4 October: 101.0 µg/m³Bulandshahr, 5 October: 61.1 µg/m³Bulandshahr, 6 October: 65.7 µg/m³VrindāvanVrindāvan, 30 September: 64.4 µg/m³Vrindāvan, 1 October: 67.2 µg/m³Vrindāvan, 2 October: no readingVrindāvan, 3 October: 70.4 µg/m³, 2.6× its usual 27.4Vrindāvan, 4 October: 62.8 µg/m³Vrindāvan, 5 October: no readingVrindāvan, 6 October: no readingBareillyBareilly, 30 September: 45.7 µg/m³Bareilly, 1 October: 41.1 µg/m³Bareilly, 2 October: no readingBareilly, 3 October: 68.5 µg/m³, 2.1× its usual 33.3Bareilly, 4 October: no readingBareilly, 5 October: no readingBareilly, 6 October: 22.9 µg/m³DewasDewas, 30 September: 46.5 µg/m³Dewas, 1 October: 47.7 µg/m³Dewas, 2 October: no readingDewas, 3 October: 65.1 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 29.8Dewas, 4 October: 40.4 µg/m³Dewas, 5 October: 51.8 µg/m³Dewas, 6 October: 52.7 µg/m³DausaDausa, 30 September: 32.7 µg/m³Dausa, 1 October: 33.0 µg/m³Dausa, 2 October: no readingDausa, 3 October: 62.0 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 26.7Dausa, 4 October: 48.1 µg/m³Dausa, 5 October: 60.3 µg/m³Dausa, 6 October: 50.1 µg/m³KhurjaKhurja, 30 September: 47.8 µg/m³Khurja, 1 October: 54.1 µg/m³Khurja, 2 October: no readingKhurja, 3 October: 58.6 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 25.6Khurja, 4 October: 66.3 µg/m³Khurja, 5 October: 51.2 µg/m³Khurja, 6 October: 50.8 µg/m³Sawai MadhopurSawai Madhopur, 30 September: 50.8 µg/m³Sawai Madhopur, 1 October: 50.1 µg/m³Sawai Madhopur, 2 October: no readingSawai Madhopur, 3 October: 41.1 µg/m³, 2.0× its usual 20.5Sawai Madhopur, 4 October: 29.4 µg/m³Sawai Madhopur, 5 October: 36.9 µg/m³Sawai Madhopur, 6 October: 40.5 µg/m³IndoreIndore, 30 September: 26.2 µg/m³Indore, 1 October: 24.0 µg/m³Indore, 2 October: no readingIndore, 3 October: 40.4 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 17.4Indore, 4 October: 24.0 µg/m³Indore, 5 October: 30.4 µg/m³Indore, 6 October: 31.4 µg/m³30 Sep1 Oct23456
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
VrindāvanUttar Pradesh, India1 70.43 October27.42.6×
DausaRajasthan, India1 62.03 October26.72.3×
KhurjaUttar Pradesh, India1 58.63 October25.62.3×
IndoreMadhya Pradesh, India1 40.43 October17.42.3×
GhāziābādUttar Pradesh, India1 106.03 October47.32.2×
DewasMadhya Pradesh, India1 65.13 October29.82.2×
BulandshahrUttar Pradesh, India1 86.03 October41.72.1×
BareillyUttar Pradesh, India1 68.53 October33.32.1×
Sawai MadhopurRajasthan, India1 41.13 October20.52.0×

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 46 of 64 episodes in India since our records began, by cities reached.

Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 64.

Use this page

SmogRank, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India, October 2026: 9 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 3 October 2026, smogrank.com/episodes/2026-10-uttar-pradesh-rajasthan-and-madhya-pradesh-india (accessed 9 October 2026).

Download top 10 (PNG)

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. Dust: contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.