Lucknow has made a dramatic 14-place jump to top the Clean Air Survey 2026 among cities with a population of over one million, rising from 15th in 2024-25 to Rank 1 this year. But the clean-air crown comes with an uncomfortable contrast: during the June 15-30 assessment period, Lucknow’s air was generally more polluted than that of runner-up Indore, which had topped the previous edition. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) attributed the city’s improved ranking to measures focused on road dust, waste management, vehicular emissions and increasing green cover.Mayor Sushma Kharkwal and municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar receive the Clean Air Survey 2026 awards in New Delhi on Monday. (Sourced)The results of the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2026 were announced on Monday. Lucknow scored 198 out of 200 points in the million-plus category, narrowly beating Indore, which scored 197. Jabalpur secured third place with 195 points, while Bhopal and Agra shared fourth with 192 points each. Surat finished fifth.Notably, the survey does not rank cities solely on their daily AQI. It assesses the implementation of pollution-control measures under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), covering road dust, waste and biomass burning, vehicular and industrial emissions, construction and demolition waste, waste management, public awareness and improvement in annual PM10 levels.However, the distinction is significant for Lucknow. During the assessment period, CPCB-linked readings put the city’s AQI at 83 on June 15, 94 on June 16, 96 on June 17, 113 on June 22 and 116 on June 24. Indore recorded AQI readings of 86, 83, 76 and 71 on corresponding dates for which data was available. Except for June 15, Lucknow recorded a higher AQI than Indore on the dates compared.Lucknow’s air quality also remains a seasonal challenge. The city generally records moderate to poor air during summer, improves during the monsoon and deteriorates from October, with winter months often seeing very poor to severe pollution levels. Even on Monday, Lucknow’s AQI remained substantially higher than runner-up Indore.Yet, the city has made measurable progress on key pollution indicators. Annual PM10 concentration has declined from 250 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017-18 to 137 micrograms per cubic metre. The level, however, remains more than twice the national annual standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.Among the measures credited for the improvement are mechanised road sweeping, better waste processing, electric vehicles for civic services, traffic management and expansion of green cover. The LMC has deployed around 1,100 electric vehicles for door-to-door waste collection and 97 electric mechanised sweeping machines. Around 559.85 km of roads have also been paved end-to-end.“The civic body has increased waste-processing capacity to around 2,550 tonnes per day and claims that fresh waste is now scientifically processed, with fresh dumping stopped. Compact transfer stations have reduced waste-collection trips from around 240 to 150 a day. Dedicated centres and a 300 TPD plant have also been established for construction and demolition waste,” according to Lucknow municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar.Lucknow has around 140 electric buses, while road-widening and traffic decongestion measures have been undertaken at several locations. The city has also expanded emissions monitoring and promoted cleaner fuels, including LPG and PNG, along with measures aimed at improving vehicle fitness and fuel quality, he added.Green cover has been expanded through vertical gardens, green spaces along roads and waterways, and urban and riverfront greening initiatives. Officials have also promoted rooftop solar and other measures aimed at reducing dependence on more polluting energy sources.Environmental engineer Sanjeev Pradhan said the survey assessment was conducted from June 15 to 30, followed by field verification in the last week of August. Teams inspected selected locations to verify the implementation of pollution-control measures on the ground.Mayor Sushma Kharkwal and municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar received the award at a ceremony at Ganga Auditorium in Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, New Delhi, on Monday, on the occasion of Clean Air Day. Lucknow received a cash prize of ₹1.5 crore.