LUCKNOW, Sept. 8 -- 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 clean-air crown comes with an uncomfortable contrast: during June 15-30 assessment period, Lucknow's air was generally more polluted than that of runner-up Indore, which had topped previous edition. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) attributed city's improved ranking to measures focused on road dust, waste management, vehicular emissions and increasing green cover. 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 National Clean Air Programme, 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 by 45.2%, 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. "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, along with measures aimed at improving vehicle fitness and fuel quality, he added. 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 New Delhi, on Monday, on the occasion of Clean Air Day. Lucknow received a cash prize of Rs 1.5 crore....