VARANASI: The Central Pollution Control Board's bulletin for Thursday, November 12, 2026, placed Varanasi's air quality index at 130 at 4 pm IST, with all four listed monitoring stations participating. The city remained in the Moderate category, while PM2.5 joined PM10 in the bulletin's prominent pollutant column.
Residents planning outdoor activities in Lanka, Bhelupur or other neighbourhoods should check the latest station information alongside the city figure. The bulletin represents the average of the preceding 24 hours, rather than a measurement of conditions at every street at 4 pm. It does not supply a separate reading for those neighbourhoods.
The new figure is four points below the November 11 bulletin's 134, and 30 points below the November 10 reading of 160. All three readings fall within the same category. For a November 13 plan, residents should look for a newer timestamp rather than describe the November 12 release as that morning's live reading.
What changed in the November 12 release
The November 12 official bulletin records Varanasi in row 278, with an index of 130, a Moderate classification and station participation of four out of four. Both PM10 and PM2.5 appear as prominent pollutants. The row supplies an index value, not a concentration figure for either pollutant.
The November 11 release listed PM10 alone as Varanasi's prominent pollutant, alongside the index of 134 and the same four out of four participation. The November 10 row also named PM10 alone. The addition of PM2.5 to the latest prominent pollutant listing is therefore a change in the published description, even though the overall index declined.
That change should not be read as proof that PM2.5 concentration increased. The city row does not provide the underlying pollutant concentrations needed to establish that comparison. Similarly, the lower combined index does not establish that every pollutant declined at every monitoring location.
| Bulletin date, 4 pm IST | Varanasi AQI | Category | Prominent pollutants | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 10 | 160 | Moderate | PM10 | 4/4 |
| November 11 | 134 | Moderate | PM10 | 4/4 |
| November 12 | 130 | Moderate | PM10, PM2.5 | 4/4 |
A city average has limits
CPCB includes an explicit caution with its daily table. Where a city has multiple monitoring locations, it uses an average to indicate city air quality for simplicity. The board also warns that conditions can vary between locations and that averaging is not a scientifically sound way to represent that variation. It directs readers to monitoring location data for a more specific picture.
Four out of four participation means all four stations counted in Varanasi's bulletin entry contributed to the release. It is not a statement that every ward has a monitor or that four identical readings were recorded. A family checking conditions near a particular destination needs the location information as well as the city name.
The index is also distinct from a pollutant concentration. CPCB's explanation of AQI calculation says individual pollutant sub-indices are calculated from their average concentrations and the relevant breakpoint ranges. The worst sub-index becomes the AQI at that monitoring location. The city summary and the station calculation therefore describe different levels of the published information.
What residents should do
When checking an air quality display, read its date, time, station and category together. CPCB explains that its automated system uses running averages: a reading displayed at 6 am can incorporate data from 6 am on the previous day to that point. The clock time on a display does not make the figure an instantaneous sample.
The calculation note uses 24 hour average concentrations for pollutants generally, with eight hour averages for carbon monoxide and ozone. It requires data for at least three pollutants, including either PM10 or PM2.5, for an overall AQI. A minimum of 16 hours of data is considered necessary to calculate a sub-index. These requirements explain why checking coverage matters alongside the headline number.
The category boundaries printed with the bulletin are 0 to 50 for Good, 51 to 100 for Satisfactory, 101 to 200 for Moderate, 201 to 300 for Poor, 301 to 400 for Very Poor and 401 to 500 for Severe. Varanasi's latest 130 remains above the Satisfactory range despite the fall from the two preceding releases.
The data are published by CPCB using information supplied by contributing agencies. Earlier local context is available in reports on the November 7 bulletin, the November 9 reading and the November 8 category. The November 12 bulletin is a separate dated release; those earlier figures should not be substituted for its new entry.
