Lucknow’s air cleanest, Indore among top 3 in Centre’s annual survey

Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, emerged as the cleanest city with the most residents, topping the 'Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan' survey for 2026. The city's clean air credentials are attributed to initiatives such as introducing electric vehicles to the waste collection fleet, employing mechanized sweepers for road dust management, and optimizing legacy waste handling.

Indore, India's cleanest city, claimed the second position, followed by Jabalpur in third place within the million-plus cities category. Conversely, Chennai, Jamshedpur, Kota, Kolkata, and Madurai ranked within the bottom five. Despite securing the top spot in the million-plus cities category, Lucknow has yet to meet the national standards of 60 ug/m3 for annual PM10 (micrograms per cubic meter) air quality.

Nonetheless, since the survey commenced, PM10 levels have fallen from 250 ug/m3 in 2017-18 to 137 ug/m3. While Indore claimed India’s cleanest city title, Jabalpur’s accomplishments included a waste-to-energy plant, 100% waste collection and scientific disposal, mechanized street sweeping, and the promotion of electric vehicles.

In the second category, cities housing between 3-10 lakh inhabitants, Rourkela topped the list, followed by Firozabad and Guntur jointly in second, and Amravati in third. In the third category, cities with fewer than 3 lakh residents, Kalinga Nagar led, followed by Angul and Talcher in joint second and third. The rankings were unveiled in the national capital on Monday, with National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava presenting the awards to all winning cities and towns.

The judging criteria encompass waste management, road dust control, dust from construction and demolition, vehicular and industrial pollution reductions, and particulate matter 10 concentration reductions, with the latter accounting for only 2.5% of the assessment.