Kanpur Air Quality Index (AQI)
India's leather capital on the Ganges. Kanpur's massive tannery cluster, thermal power, and textile industry combine with IGP winter inversions to create some of India's worst sustained industrial air pollution.
Monthly AQI — Kanpur
Frequently Asked Questions
What industries make Kanpur's air so polluted?
Kanpur has one of India's largest leather tannery clusters — the Jajmau area processes 50 million hides annually, with tannery chimneys and chemical vats releasing chromium compounds, hydrogen sulfide, and PM into the air. The city also has textile mills, flour mills, thermal power plants (NTPC Tanda nearby), and a large vehicle servicing sector. These stack emissions combine with road dust from poorly paved streets in older parts of the city.
How does the Ganges river relate to Kanpur's pollution?
Kanpur sits on the Ganges and is infamous for river pollution from tannery effluent — but air quality is also affected by the river flood plain geography. The flat, low-lying Gangetic plain has minimal terrain for wind generation, and in winter, cold air pools in river plains. Seasonal fog from the Ganges and surrounding wetlands combines with industrial emissions to create particularly thick smog events (fog+smog = 'foggage' locally) that can last for days with near-zero visibility.
When is Kanpur's air quality least harmful?
July and August during the monsoon are the cleanest months — AQI drops to 60–70 as frequent rains wash PM from the air and industrial operations slow during rainfall. September is also relatively acceptable. November through February is the danger window, when industrial emissions under temperature inversions push AQI to 200–280+.
What is CPCB doing about Kanpur's air quality?
Kanpur is one of India's 131 Non-Attainment Cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), with a mandate to reduce PM2.5 by 40% by 2026. The city action plan includes: phasing out coal in small industries, mechanized road sweeping, dust suppression at construction sites, and real-time source apportionment monitoring. Progress has been slow due to the large number of small-scale industrial units with limited regulatory capacity.