Lucknow tops, Indore secures second spot in Swachh Vayu Survekshan '26

Indore : The cleanest city of the country, Indore, secured the second spot in Swachh Vayu Survekshan (clean air survey) 2026 of Central Pollution Control Board on Monday. The city missed the top position in the national ranking by a narrow margin of just one point in Category-I (cities with a population over 10 lakh) of the survey. The survey has ranked cities on the basis of real action on the ground to deal with different polluting activities. The national results saw Uttar Pradesh's capital, Lucknow, take the lead with 198 out of 200 points, while last year's top performer, Indore, finished second with 197 points. Jabalpur finished third with 195 points, while Bhopal and Agra jointly claimed fourth place with 192 points, followed by Surat in fifth with 191 points. Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) additional commissioner Prakhar Singh said particulate matter (PM-10) reduction plays a central role in the survey scoring. 'Evaluated on exercises and Air Quality Index (AQI) data from April to March of the preceding financial year, Indore reduced its average PM-10 levels by 4 points—moving from 85 to 81 micrograms per cubic metre,' he said. By contrast, Lucknow reduced its PM-10 levels by eight points, dropping from 147 to 135 micrograms per cubic metre over the same period, Singh said, further adding that because Indore's baseline PM-10 concentration is already among the lowest in its class, achieving further proportional reductions presents a greater operational challenge. The award was presented on International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on Monday by NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava to Indore mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav, municipal commissioner Kshitij Singhal and health in charge Ashwin Shukla. In the 2025 survey, Indore secured the first rank with a perfect score of 200/200, earning a Rs 1.5 crore cash award. This year, Indore earned a Rs 1 crore incentive grant under the 15th Finance Commission in recognition of its sustained air quality management efforts and for maintaining a good AQI on over 98% of days during the evaluation period. For Jabalpur, mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh Annu and municipal commissioner Ramprakash Ahirwar received the award as the city recorded an AQI of 77 during the evaluation period. 'We attribute the rank to targeted interventions, including mechanical road sweeping, regular water sprinkling, strict bans on open waste burning, and scientific waste management. Expanded green cover through mass plantation drives and the deployment of electric vehicles in public transit further drove down industrial and vehicular emissions across the city,' Ahirwar said. Senior municipal corporation officials of Indore and Jabalpur said they continue to deploy targeted interventions across urban transport, dust mitigation and industrial operations while the mechanical road sweeping (MRS) covers hundreds of kilometres of roads daily, alongside regular road topping, routine maintenance and pothole repair. The officials said custom-built mist towers and water-sprinkling vehicles manufactured in-house are deployed for airborne dust suppression. Regular monitoring and inspections of active construction sites are also conducted with periodic construction and demolition waste collection drives to prevent roadside dumping. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Indore | Silver Rate in Indore | Bank Holidays in Indore | Public Holidays in Indore | Petrol Price in Indore | Diesel Price in Indore | CNG Price in Indore | LPG Price in Indore Stay updated with the latest Indore news. Download the TOI App.