Bhopal's air today: where the smoke is coming from
Bhopal's smoke report
Right now the wind over Bhopal blows from the north-east at 11 km/h (weather model, 30 October, 08:15 IST). In the 24 hours to 30 October, 04:18 IST NASA's satellites saw 14 fires within 250 km upwind of Bhopal, in the direction the wind is coming from, out of 48 within 250 km in every direction. Most were in Guna and Vidisha. Nearly all were on farmland, the pattern of crop-residue burning.
Ranks among the cities with pages here that have any of each: #1 has the most.
Map of the fires around the city, last 24 hours
Each dot is one fire a NASA satellite saw. Red dots are upwind, in the direction the wind is coming from, so their smoke is the likeliest to be reaching the city now; grey dots are in other directions. The moving lines show the wind blowing towards the city. Tap a dot for the village and the time.
Fires within 250 km in the last 24 hours, by direction. Red: the side the wind is coming from (the north-east). Tap a direction to pick out its fires on the map.
What satellites see around Bhopal
What satellites and surveys see around the city. Each is a different measure, so they can't be added up into shares of the air.
Fires around Bhopal in the last 30 days
The busiest of the last 29 days was 25 October, with 661 fire spots within 250 km, 5 of them within 50 km.
within 250 km within 50 km
A fire spot is one fire seen on a day, however many satellites saw it (Pakistan-time days). The archive runs every day from 1 October 2026; before that it holds only the October-November seasons.
NO₂ pollution in Bhopal: traffic, industry and power plants
Over the last 14 days the air over Bhopal held 0.98 times the region's usual level of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), #57 of 58 cities.
From Sentinel-5P's TROPOMI instrument via NASA's GIBS tiles, which publish NO₂ as colour bands: a level here is good to about one band. NO₂ in big cities comes mostly from vehicle engines; peaks are named after what is nearby, which suggests a source but doesn't measure one. NO₂ window 15 October to 28 October 2026.
Landfills
Carbon Mapper hasn't measured a methane plume from a landfill within 50 km of Bhopal, but 1 landfills and dump sites are mapped there.
Power plants and industry
No fossil-fuel power plant is mapped within 50 km of Bhopal, but 41 industrial areas are.
Within 50 km of the city centre, on either side of the border. These are lists of what is there, not measures of how much each adds to the air.
Every mapped source within 50 km of Bhopal
Tap a layer to hide it, or a site for its name.
Brick-kiln surveys, OpenStreetMap, Carbon Mapper and NASA FIRMS, on either side of the border. These map what is there, not how much each adds to the air. /sites/ · Site lists built 26 October 2026.
Fires around Bhopal this season compared with past years
Fire spots within 250 km of Bhopal from 1 October to 29 October, each year. These count Suomi NPP alone, so every year is measured by the same instrument and the years compare fairly (the 30-day chart above counts all five satellites, three VIIRS and two MODIS, so its numbers are higher).
* 2026: 1 day without Suomi NPP data: a floor
Bhopal against the other cities
Each strip holds the cities with pages here that have any of it, the most on the left; the red mark is Bhopal. They are different measures, so a high rank on one isn't a larger share of the air than a high rank on another.
All the rankings: city rankings
Send this to someone in Bhopal
Pasted into WhatsApp or X, the link shows this map of the fires and the wind, redrawn every few hours.
Bhopal air today: where the smoke is coming from
hamarihawa.org
All the numbers
Every table behind this page.
Upwind districts, last 24 hours
| District | Province or state | Country | Direction | Distance | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guna | Madhya Pradesh | India | north | 153 km | 9 |
| Vidisha | Madhya Pradesh | India | north | 108 km | 2 |
| Ashoknagar | Madhya Pradesh | India | north | 181 km | 2 |
| Baran | Rajasthan | India | north | 214 km | 1 |
Fires within 250 km by direction, last 24 hours
| From the | Fires |
|---|---|
| north | 16 |
| north-east (the wind is coming from here) | 1 |
| east | 0 |
| south-east | 1 |
| south | 1 |
| south-west | 12 |
| west | 0 |
| north-west | 17 |
Fires within 250 km in the last 7 days
| District | Province or state | Country | Distance | Fires | On farmland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guna | Madhya Pradesh | India | 158 km | 652 | 97% |
| Ashoknagar | Madhya Pradesh | India | 156 km | 504 | 100% |
| Narmadapuram district | Madhya Pradesh | India | 85 km | 325 | 98% |
| Baran | Rajasthan | India | 207 km | 303 | 93% |
| Sagar | Madhya Pradesh | India | 158 km | 247 | 96% |
| Shivpuri | Madhya Pradesh | India | 200 km | 203 | 98% |
| Vidisha | Madhya Pradesh | India | 99 km | 193 | 98% |
| Sehore | Madhya Pradesh | India | 61 km | 104 | 93% |
| Seoni | Madhya Pradesh | India | 239 km | 101 | 93% |
| Khandwa district | Madhya Pradesh | India | 192 km | 95 | 95% |
Fires around Bhopal this season compared with past years
| Season | Fire spots |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 52 |
| 2020 | 1,262 |
| 2021 | 394 |
| 2022 | 613 |
| 2023 | 1,918 |
| 2024 | 1,587 |
| 2025 | 517 |
| 2026 (so far) | 2,231 (1 day without Suomi NPP data: a floor) |
Every measure and rank
Where Bhopal stands among the 58 cities with pages here, on each measure. They are different measures, so a high rank on one isn't a larger share of the air than a high rank on another.
| Measure | Bhopal | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Fire spots within 250 km, last 30 days | 7,284 | 11 of 58 |
| NO₂, times the usual level (14 days) | 0.98× | 57 of 58 |
| Landfill methane within 50 km | none measured | – |
| Measured plant CO₂ within 50 km | none measured | – |
| Brick kilns within 50 km | – | – |
| Industrial areas within 50 km | 41 | 48 of 58 |
| Always-hot sites within 50 km | 0 | – |
Ranks on today's fires
Bhopal's place among the cities, on the numbers that change with each satellite pass.
- Fire spots upwind, last 24 hours: 12 of 34
- Fire spots within 250 km, last 24 hours: 29 of 57
- Fire spots within 250 km, last 7 days: 11 of 58
All the rankings: city rankings
Questions about Bhopal's air
Where is Bhopal's smoke coming from today?
Right now the wind over Bhopal blows from the north-east at 11 km/h (weather model, 30 October, 08:15 IST). In the 24 hours to 30 October, 04:18 IST NASA's satellites saw 14 fires within 250 km upwind of Bhopal, in the direction the wind is coming from, out of 48 within 250 km in every direction. Most were in Guna and Vidisha. Nearly all were on farmland, the pattern of crop-residue burning.
Are crop fires burning near Bhopal?
In the last 24 hours NASA's satellites saw 48 fire spots within 250 km of Bhopal, and 7,284 in the last 30 days. Satellites only see what is burning as they pass, and not under cloud.
How bad is traffic pollution in Bhopal?
Over the 14 days 15 October to 28 October 2026, nitrogen dioxide in the air over Bhopal (within 15 km) was about 0.98 times the usual level of the surrounding region, roughly 1.96 ×10¹⁵ molecules/cm². Of the 58 cities with enough clear days, it ranks 57.
Which landfills near Bhopal release methane?
Carbon Mapper hasn't measured a methane plume from a landfill within 50 km of Bhopal. Its overpasses are occasional, so that isn't proof there are none.
Every number on this page is also in machine-readable form (JSON).
More about Bhopal
Nearby cities: Indore (170 km), Nagpur (292 km), Jaipur (438 km), Agra (440 km)
Fires up to 30 October, 04:18 IST. This page updates every 15 minutes. Upwind is a guide, not proof: smoke can travel further than 250 km, the wind turns during the day, and satellites can't see fires under cloud. A fire spot is one fire, about 375 m across, however many satellites saw it. Fires: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS and MODIS). Wind: Open-Meteo's weather model. Air: Copernicus CAMS model estimates, which read low in winter.