5 Indian Cities With Cleaner Air Than Switzerland Right Now

While half of India seems to be choking under that infamous smog blanket (looking at you, Delhi), there are actually some pockets of the country where the air is ridiculously clean.

Like, “take a deep breath and you’ll feel five years younger” kind of clean. I was pretty shocked when I saw the latest AQI numbers—some of these places are beating Swiss villages. Here are the top five that keep popping up with crazy-low readings right now:

1. Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu – AQI around 13 This little town in the Cauvery delta basically won the lottery. Barely any big factories, mostly fields and a couple of cement plants that somehow don’t ruin everything. It’s far enough inland that the sea breeze still helps clear things out. Honestly, 13 is the kind of number you see in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand, not India.
2. Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh – AQI 14 Up on the plateau near the Karnataka border, Hindupur just quietly sits there with its textile markets and zero drama. Higher elevation = wind that actually moves, plus it’s not in the path of any of those north Indian dust storms. Feels unfairly blessed.
3. Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu – AQI 17 You know Thanjavur—the Big Temple city, rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, all that jazz. Turns out endless green paddy fields do wonders for keeping dust down. It’s still got its old-school charm, lots of cycling, not too many cars belching smoke, and the river irrigation keeps everything moist and settled. Breathing there feels almost meditative.
4. Shillong, Meghalaya – AQI 17 Ah, Shillong. Everyone already calls it the Scotland of the East, and the air is a big reason why. You’re at 1,500 meters, surrounded by pine forests, and it rains just enough to rinse everything clean every other day. When the clouds lift, you can literally taste how fresh it is. No wonder half the musicians in the Northeast are from here—they’re high on oxygen.
5. Gangtok, Sikkim – AQI 22 Gangtok is that overachieving kid in class. Sikkim banned plastic bags ages ago, went fully organic, said no to random hill-cutting, and basically decided pollution isn’t invited. Add the Himalayan altitude, thick forests, and the fact that half the vehicles are electric taxis now… yeah, the air is stupidly pure. You walk around and it smells like someone turned on a giant air purifier.

What do all these places have in common? They’re either down south (away from the north’s winter smog trap), up in the hills where the wind never stops, or both. Hardly any coal plants or brick kiln clusters nearby, tons of trees doing their thing, and in the Northeast especially, people actually enforce the eco-rules instead of just making posters about them.

Makes you realize it’s not some impossible dream—India can have crystal-clear air too. You just have to pick the right corner of the map (or move to Sikkim and never leave).