GURUGRAM: The city's air quality index rose to 240 in the Central Pollution Control Board bulletin issued at 4 pm IST on Thursday, October 29, 2026, up from 203 a day earlier. The fresh assessment keeps Gurugram in the poor category, while a separate weather bulletin places the district under a thunderstorm, lightning and hail warning for Friday.
The AQI is a city figure, not a reading assigned to Sector 51 or another neighbourhood. CPCB's official station directory lists Sector 51, Vikas Sadan, Teri Gram and NISE Gwal Pahari in Gurugram. Thursday's bulletin uses three of four stations, compared with four of four on Wednesday, an important change when comparing the two days.
What changed in the official air assessment
The October 29 CPCB bulletin identifies PM2.5 as Gurugram's prominent pollutant. Its figure represents the preceding 24 hours. It should therefore be read as a dated daily assessment, rather than an instantaneous measurement of the air outside a particular home on Friday morning.
In Manesar, the same bulletin records 228, also poor, with one of one stations participating and PM2.5 prominent. On October 28, Manesar stood at 212 and Gurugram at 203. The changes are 16 and 37 index points respectively, calculated from the published daily values.
| Area | October 28, 4 pm IST | October 29, 4 pm IST |
|---|---|---|
| Gurugram | 203, poor, four of four stations | 240, poor, three of four stations |
| Manesar | 212, poor, one of one stations | 228, poor, one of one stations |
CPCB's explanation of the national index puts readings from 201 to 300 in the poor band and 301 to 400 in very poor. The index combines pollutant information into a number and category; it is not a concentration reported in micrograms per cubic metre. CPCB explains that the worst pollutant subindex determines the overall AQI.
Friday's weather warning is a separate update
IMD's Haryana bulletin, issued at 12.30 pm IST on October 29, lists Gurugram among districts where thunderstorms with lightning, hail and gusts of 40-50 kmph are possible at isolated places on day two, October 30. The district forecast calls for light to moderate rain at a few places.
The official weather bulletin distinguishes district conditions from the broader state warning, which mentions gusts of 50-60 kmph. For Gurugram, the district entry is the more specific reference. The warning indicates a possibility at isolated locations; it does not confirm hail or a particular wind speed at every sector.
For October 31, the district section lists isolated light to moderate rain in Gurugram and no weather warning. The subsequent state outlook turns dry. These are forecasts issued on Thursday and remain subject to later IMD updates. Neither the rain forecast nor the AQI bulletin establishes how much pollution will fall after a shower.
Use the date and the type of reading
Residents checking different air quality displays should retain the time, averaging period and monitoring coverage with each number. The fresh official development is the October 29 daily rise, alongside reduced station participation and Friday's district weather warning. It is not an October 30 live AQI reading.
Earlier local coverage explains the October 28 move into poor air, the October 27 city and Manesar readings and the separate road dust inspection findings. Those provide background rather than measurements of Friday's conditions.
