Clean air crown comes with ₹1.5 crore award

Lucknow: Mayor Sushma Kharkwal, municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar and additional municipal commissioner Pankaj Srivastava received the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026 award on behalf of the city at a Clean Air Day event organised by Environment Ministry on Monday. The honours were presented by National Green Tribunal chairman Justice Prakash Srivastava, Commission for Air Quality Management chairman Rajesh Verma and environment ministry secretary Tanmay Kumar. Lucknow received a cash award of Rs 1.50 crore. Ward No 70 in Zone 4 also won Rs 50 lakh after being judged the country's top-performing ward among those with a population exceeding 30,000, scoring 195 points. The survey assesses measures to curb air pollution, including the City Action Plan, public grievance redressal system, mobile applications, GRAP implementation, emission and source-apportionment studies, fund utilisation and annual PM10 levels. The report said Lucknow's annual average PM10 concentration fell from 253 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017-18 to 135 micrograms per cubic metre in 2025-26, an improvement of 46.64%. Kharkwal credited sustained civic initiatives such as electric transport, road dust control, waste management reforms, expansion of green spaces and traffic management. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Lucknow | Silver Rate in Lucknow | Bank Holidays in Lucknow | Public Holidays in Lucknow | Lucknow AQI | Weather in Lucknow | Petrol Price in Lucknow | Diesel Price in Lucknow | CNG Price in Lucknow | LPG Price in Lucknow Stay updated with the latest Lucknow news. Download the TOI App.