‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan- Ranking of Cities’ is to be launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). The programme “Swachh Vayu Survekshan” is covered under the sub-component-3 “National and State level interventions and public outreach activities” of the component "National Mission for Clean Air" (NMCA) of central sector scheme "Control of Pollution". Objectives The objectives of Swachh Vayu Survekshan are: Implementing air quality improvementmeasures in all wards; To create healthy competition ofimplementation of city action plans onsaturation basis; To learn and adopt best practicesimplemented by other wards Raise awareness on clean air atindividual levels To provide clean air for all citizens Cities and Wards covered The Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan promotes ranking of 130 cities in the country for implementing City Action Plans prepared as part of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for reducing air pollution. Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan guidelines are applicable to all wards located in urban local bodies of 130 cities/ Urban Agglomerations of 24 States/ UTs. It is estimated to be more than 7500 wards in 130 cities of National Clean Air Programme. Swachh Vayu Survekshan Framework released in 2022-23 evaluates cities on measures taken by cities on road dust, Solid Waste Management (SWM), vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, C&D waste management, other emissions (DG sets and commercial establishments), IEC activities. Criteria of evaluation The awards were based on participation and ranking of all 130 cities in 3 groups (Population below 3 Lakh; 3-10 Lakh; & above 10 Lakh), through the process involving self-assessment by cities, approval by State-level Monitoring Committee, evaluation by CPCB, field verification by Independent Committees and selection of 10 best performing cities. 47 cities are in the first group having population more than 10 lakh. 44 cities are in the second group having population between 3 to 10 lakh. Third group consists of 40 cities having population less than 3 lakh. Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan guidelines are applicable to all wards located in urban local bodies of 130 cities/ Urban Agglomerations of 24 States/ UTs. It is estimated to be more than 7500 wards in 130 cities of National Clean Air Programme. Cities are required to do the self-assessment as per the framework provided on PRANA online portal. This assessment is carried out annually. Cities have to report implementation of activities and measures taken in respect of solid waste management, road dust management, management of construction and demolition waste, control of vehicular emissions and industrial pollution. This promotes constructive competition in the spirit of competitive federalism to take measures to improve air quality. This Survekshan provides a tool to cities to plan their actions in order to improve the air quality. It is not based on the measurement of the air quality parameters to rank the cities. It is based on the actions taken by the cities to improve the air quality in different domains. The actions taken by the cities would result in the improvement of air quality. It thus, provides a planning implementation tool to improve the air quality and the assessment of the cities regarding how better they have aligned their actions to improve the air quality. Award Ministry of Environment, forest and Climate change (MoEFCC) shall award nine best performing wards (3 wards in each populationcategory) at National level as well as 3 best performing wards at State level. The Awards include cash price, trophy and Certificate under National Mission for Clean Air on 7th September every year on “International day of Clean Air for Blue skies”. To visit the detailed guidelines, click here Awardees Champions of Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2026 Ward level Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan is one step forward in ensuring the bottom-up approach and recognizing actions at the root level. Ward-level Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan was carried out in more than 7,400 wards across the country. The 2026 Survekshan recognised 10 best-performing cities across these three categories. Lucknow ranked first in Category 1, Rourkela topped Category 2, while Kalinganagar led Category 3. 10 wards awarded across three categories at National level; Category 1 Population > 30,000, Category 2 with population between 10,000-30,000, Category 3 with population < 10,000. Ward 70 Lucknow ranked first in Category 1, Ward 30 &36 Bhubneshwar topped Category 2, while Ward 13 Rourkela led Category 3. Further, 69 wards, 3 wards from each State/UT have also been awarded from 23 State/UTs. Champions of Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2025 The 2025 Survekshan recognised 11 best-performing cities across these three categories. Category 1 covers 47 cities with populations of 10 lakh or more. Category 2 covers 44 cities with populations between 3 and 10 lakh. Category 3 covers 40 cities with populations below 3 lakh. Indore ranked first in Category 1, Amravati topped Category 2, while Dewas led Category 3. Source : Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change