Pune Breathes Cleaner Air During Pune Grand Tour as Traffic Drops

Pune, 21st January 2026: The city got a glimpse of its old identity as a “city of cycles” during the Pune Grand Tour, as the international cycling event led to a noticeable improvement in air quality for a day.

Due to the race, the Pune traffic police imposed major traffic restrictions, keeping several key roads closed throughout the day. With fewer vehicles on the roads, pollution levels dropped significantly across the city.

According to data from the ‘Sameer’ app managed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Pune recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 94 on the day of the event. This marked a sharp improvement, as the city’s AQI has consistently remained above 150 since November 2025.

At the Shivajinagar monitoring station, where AQI levels often cross 200, the index dropped to 79. The improvement highlighted the direct link between reduced vehicular traffic and lower air pollution levels.

As part of the arrangements for the event, the administration had declared a holiday for schools and colleges in several municipal wards. The environment department also took additional measures to control pollution, contributing to better air quality.

Pune Municipal Corporation’s Environment Officer Kishori Shinde said it was encouraging to see the city’s air quality reach a satisfactory level. “We recently held a meeting with the additional commissioner on air pollution. After that, we changed the timing of fogger vehicles. Earlier, they operated in the afternoon, but now they are deployed from early morning on major roads. We are also focusing on area-specific factors responsible for air pollution in the city,” she said.

The one-day improvement gave Punekars a sense of how clean the city’s air could be with reduced traffic and sustained environmental measures.