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In the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026, Kolkata scored 142.2 points, the second-lowest score among the 48 cities with populations above 10 lakh. Only Madurai, with 132.1, scored lower. Delhi scored 172, Hyderabad 174.2, Mumbai 160.8, Bengaluru 152.6 and Chennai 147.7 — all ahead of Kolkata. Lucknow topped the category with 198 points, followed by Indore with 197 and Jabalpur with 195. Asansol performed considerably better than Kolkata among million-plus cities, scoring 170.3 and ranking 23rd. Its score was only marginally below Delhi’s 172 and was higher than Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. Howrah, with 152.9 points and 31st rank, also finished ahead of Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, though it remained well below the category leaders.
Kolkata : Kolkata has emerged as one of the weakest performers among India’s biggest cities in the Centre’s latest clean-air assessment, even as industrial Haldia has produced Bengal’s standout result by breaking into the national top five in its population category. Under the survey’s ranking methodology, Kolkata was assigned 38th rank. The contrast with several other major metros is stark. The survey assesses how cities are implementing measures to tackle pollution, including road and construction dust, waste burning, vehicular and industrial emissions, improvement in PM10 levels and public-awareness. Within Bengal itself, the results show wide differences.
The state’s two cities in the 3-10 lakh population group were further down the table. Barrackpore scored 164.1 and ranked 27th, while Durgapur scored 156.3 and stood 32nd. The category was dominated by Rourkela, which scored 198.5, followed by Firozabad and Guntur at 195 each, the survey revealed. The industrial town scored 190.6, placing it fifth nationally among 40 cities with populations below three lakh. Haldia has also improved on its ninth-place finish in 2025, when it had scored 185. The 2026 assessment covered 130 cities under the National Clean Air Programme. Nationally, the Centre said 108 cities recorded lower annual PM10 concentrations in 2025-26 compared with the 2017-18 baseline; 72 achieved reductions exceeding 20%, 26 cut concentrations by more than 40%, while 14 met the national ambient standard.
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