Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Live air quality
You're looking at Chennai's air right now — AQI 381, very poor, driven by PM2.5.
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Chennai Air Quality Index (AQI) Today
Live air quality in Chennai, Tamil Nadu — real-time AQI, dominant pollutant, PM2.5 & PM10 levels and a plain-English health advisory, computed from CPCB data.
No — Chennai's AQI is 381 (Very Poor). Avoid outdoor activity, keep windows closed, run a purifier and wear an N95 mask outdoors.
Where 381 sits on the India CPCB scale
Chennai air quality forecast
26°C · wind 11 km/hModerate 11 km/h winds are giving average dispersal today.
Hourly AQI forecast for the next 24 hours (CPCB scale).
Cleanest air today is forecast around 23:00 (AQI 74) — a good window for outdoor time.
Forecast modelled by Open-Meteo and converted to the CPCB scale. Forecasts are estimates and can change — our live readings above are measured.
What you can do outside right now
General guidance by AQI band. Sensitive groups should act one level earlier.
Live pollutant levels
Each pollutant's 24-hour concentration is converted to a CPCB sub-index; the city AQI is the highest of them (the dominant pollutant). Bars show the sub-index out of 500.
What this air does to your body
Illustrative equivalences from published research (Berkeley Earth; Air Quality Life Index, University of Chicago). Not a medical assessment of your personal risk.
Where the air is cleanest and worst in Chennai right now
A live comparison of Chennai's monitoring areas — the cleaner areas are the better choice for outdoor time right now, while the worst are best avoided for exercise. Each figure is a real station reading, not an estimate.
Cleaner areas — where to go
- 137Arumbakkam, ChennaiModerate
- 300Velachery Res. Area, ChennaiPoor
- 304Manali Village, ChennaiVery Poor
Worst areas — where to avoid
- 381Manali, ChennaiVery Poor
- 348Kodungaiyur, ChennaiVery Poor
- 341Perungudi, ChennaiVery Poor
Monitoring stations in Chennai
7 live CPCB stations, ranked worst air first. Each station's AQI is its own highest pollutant sub-index.
| Station | AQI | Category | PM2.5 | PM10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manali, Chennai - CPCB | 381 | Very Poor | 225 | 150 |
| Kodungaiyur, Chennai - TNPCB | 348 | Very Poor | 182 | 119 |
| Perungudi, Chennai - TNPCB | 341 | Very Poor | 172 | 125 |
| Royapuram, Chennai - TNPCB | 319 | Very Poor | 143 | 89 |
| Manali Village, Chennai - TNPCB | 304 | Very Poor | 124 | 107 |
| Velachery Res. Area, Chennai - CPCB | 300 | Poor | 120 | 110 |
| Arumbakkam, Chennai - TNPCB | 137 | Moderate | 71 | 73 |
Source: CPCB continuous ambient air-quality monitoring stations via data.gov.in. Station-level values are the latest hourly averages.
24-hour AQI graph
min 139 · max 382Hourly AQI recorded each hour by DailyAQI (local time). Fills to a rolling 24 hours.
7-day AQI trend
Daily peak AQI recorded by DailyAQI since tracking began, coloured by category. History grows to a rolling 30 days.
Air quality calendar
Worst recorded day: 2026-11-09 (AQI 411) · cleanest: 2026-10-10 (AQI 59)
Each cell is a day, coloured by that day’s peak AQI band. Only days we have recorded are shown; the grid fills out over the month.
Make it personal
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Alert me when the air turns unhealthy
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What Very Poor air means for you
May cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure; effects more pronounced for people with lung and heart disease.
Health guidance per CPCB National Air Quality Index bands. Informational only — not medical advice.
India's metro cities right now
AQI categories (India scale)
| AQI | Category | Associated health impact |
|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good | Air quality is considered satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk. |
| 51–100 | Satisfactory | Acceptable air quality; minor breathing discomfort possible for unusually sensitive people. |
| 101–200 | Moderate | May cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma, and to children and older adults. |
| 201–300 | Poor | May cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. |
| 301–400 | Very Poor | May cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure; effects more pronounced for people with lung and heart disease. |
| 401–500 | Severe | Affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases; avoid outdoor activity. |
Monitoring location
Approximate location of the monitoring station(s) feeding this reading. Map © OpenStreetMap.
Monitoring areas in Chennai
Area-level air quality across Chennai — open any locality for its local AQI, pollutants and health advice.
About air quality in Chennai
This page tracks the Chennai, Tamil Nadu Air Quality Index using measurements from 7 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitoring stations, published through the Government of India's open-data portal. Right now Chennai's AQI is 381 (Very Poor), with PM2.5 the dominant pollutant. The AQI is a single number from 0 to 500 that summarises how polluted the air is and what it means for health, built from pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone and sulphur dioxide — the index reflects whichever is worst at the time.
How Chennai's air changes through the year
As a southern city, Chennai generally enjoys cleaner air across the year than the northern plains, helped by sea breezes and weaker winter inversions. Dust and ground-level ozone can rise during the hot, dry pre-monsoon weeks, while the monsoon brings the freshest air of the year. The daily rhythm still matters — mornings and evenings are usually worse than a breezy afternoon.
What drives air pollution in Chennai
Traffic, construction and road dust, industry and port or coastal activity are the main local sources. Sea breezes and stronger winds usually help disperse pollution, which is why coastal air often clears faster than in landlocked cities, though calm days and dry-season dust can still push readings up.
Cleaner and worse areas within Chennai
Air quality is not uniform across a city. Among Chennai's monitoring areas right now, the air is cleanest around Arumbakkam, Chennai and worst around Manali, Chennai — a reminder that local traffic, industry and construction can make a real difference over just a few kilometres. The live area-by-area comparison above shows where to go and where to avoid at this moment.
Best time to visit Chennai for cleaner air
For the cleanest air, the monsoon and the months just after it are usually best in Chennai, while the driest, stillest weeks can be worse. Check the live reading on this page before outdoor exercise or sightseeing, and keep an N95 mask handy for high-pollution days.
Staying safe in Chennai's air
When the AQI is in the Good or Satisfactory range, outdoor activity is fine for almost everyone. From Moderate upward, sensitive groups — children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma or heart disease — should pace themselves outdoors, and once the air turns Poor or worse it is sensible for everyone to limit strenuous outdoor exertion, keep windows closed, run an air purifier indoors and wear a well-fitting mask outside. This is general information rather than medical advice. We only display a number when a recent station reading exists — if you see "data updating", we are waiting on a fresh value rather than showing an estimate.
Air quality near Chennai
All Tamil Nadu cities →The nearest monitored cities to Chennai, with their live AQI — tap any card for its full report.
Protect your health — air quality guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the AQI in Chennai today?
The current Air Quality Index in Chennai is 381 (Very Poor) on the Indian CPCB scale, with PM2.5 as the dominant pollutant.
Is it safe to go outside in Chennai today?
No — Chennai's AQI is 381 (Very Poor). Avoid outdoor activity, keep windows closed, run a purifier and wear an N95 mask outdoors.
What is the main pollutant in Chennai?
Today the dominant pollutant driving Chennai's AQI is PM2.5. The full pollutant breakdown (PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, O₃, CO, SO₂) is listed above.
How is Chennai's AQI calculated?
Each pollutant's 24-hour concentration is converted to a sub-index using CPCB breakpoints; the city AQI is the highest sub-index. See our methodology.
What is the air quality forecast for Chennai tomorrow?
Air in Chennai is forecast to improve tomorrow to around AQI 78 (Satisfactory), down from about 89 today. Forecasts are modelled estimates (Open-Meteo) and can change.