Karve Nagar, Alandi Stations In Pune Flag High PM10 Levels As Air Pollution Remains Above Safe Limits Year-Round
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Pune, April 21, 2025 — A analysis of Pune’s air quality by Respirer Living Sciences, based on four years of data from the AtlasAQ platform, shows that PM10 concentrations in the city have consistently breached the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) limit of 60 µg/m³—even during summer months when pollution is expected to ease. The city has shown high seasonal variability, but no sustained improvement across any of the four years.
Pune’s citywide PM10 levels spiked from 70.9 µg/m³ in 2021 to 98.9 µg/m³ in 2022, and remained high at 95.9 µg/m³ in 2023, before slightly declining to 86.8 µg/m³ in 2024. While this drop may seem encouraging, none of these values meet the NAAQS benchmark, indicating that air quality remains unsafe throughout the year.
Station-level data reveals extreme intra-year fluctuations. Karve Road showed a dramatic 177.6% rise from 50.0 µg/m³ in 2021 to 138.9 µg/m³ in 2022. Alandi also recorded a spike to 127.3 µg/m³ in 2023 before dropping to 89.0 µg/m³ in 2024.
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Locations like Transport Nagar, Bhosari, Mhada Colony, and Revenue Colony consistently reported annual averages above 80 µg/m³, while not a single station recorded levels below the national threshold.
“The narrative around Pune often assumes it’s a clean city—but the data doesn’t support that,” said Ronak Sutaria, Founder and CEO of Respirer Living Sciences. “Even our so-called ‘clean seasons’ are not actually clean. PM10 pollution here is unpredictable, persistent, and well above safe limits.”
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The report identifies rapid construction, road dust, vehicular congestion, and growing urban sprawl as key contributors to PM10. It recommends the enforcement of dust control protocols, greater investment in sustainable mobility, and real-time ward-level monitoring to enable more targeted action.
