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Lessons from Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2025

TNS

Chandigarh, Updated At : 08:21 PM Sep 11, 2025 IST

Air Quality Index

Indore, already India’s “cleanliness capital,” has added another feather to its cap by topping the Swachh Vayu Survekshan (SVS) 2025, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC) annual air quality ranking exercise. This recognition comes even as the city recorded a marginal rise in PM10 levels, underscoring that sustained policy focus and community participation can override short-term fluctuations.

What is Swachh Vayu Survekshan?

• Origin & purpose: Instituted under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), SVS is an annual evaluation of 130 Indian cities.

• Approach: It follows a multi-tiered assessment covering technical due diligence, measurable pollution reduction and citizen awareness.

• Objective: To foster healthy competition among cities and accelerate actions for air quality improvement.

The parameters of assessment

SVS measures city performance across eight indicators, including:

• Road dust suppression

• Solid waste management

• Control of vehicular and industrial emissions

• Handling of construction & demolition waste

• Public awareness campaigns

• Tangible reductions in PM10 and PM2.5

This makes the survey not just a pollution index but a policy compliance and governance test.

Key results of 2025 survey

Million-plus cities category

• Rank 1: Indore

• Rank 2 & 3: Jabalpur, Agra/Surat

• Other top performers: Navi Mumbai (4), Kanpur (5), Bhopal (6), Prayagraj (7), Chandigarh (8).

• Major Metros: Hyderabad (22), Mumbai (25), Jaipur (26), Delhi (32), Bengaluru (36), Kolkata (38), Chennai (41).

3-10 lakh population category

• Rank 1: Amravati

• Rank 2: Jhansi & Moradabad (joint)

• Rank 3: Alwar

Under 3 lakh population category

• Rank 1: Dewas (Madhya Pradesh)

• Rank 2: Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh)

• Rank 3: Angul (Odisha)

Trends in air pollution reduction

• PM10 decline: 103 out of 130 cities registered lower levels.

• Metros’ Performance:

Mumbai: 44% decline (highest among metros)

Kolkata: 37%

Hyderabad & Bengaluru: 26% each

Delhi: 15%

Chennai: 12%

• Meeting standards: 22 cities achieved the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) benchmark of <60 µg/m³. Interestingly, Chennai is the only metro to meet the cut, recording 58 µg/m³.

Case study: Chandigarh’s comeback

Chandigarh rose dramatically from 31st rank in 2024 to 8th in 2025 among million-plus cities. This reflects how focused governance reforms and civic participation can yield visible results in a short span.

Why this matters for UPSC aspirants

1. Policy lens: SVS highlights the working of NCAP, a flagship environmental policy.

2. Governance & competition: It shows how competitive federalism is applied in environmental governance.

3. Urbanisation & austainability: Offers insights into how urban centres balance development with environmental health.

4. Data for essays & GS papers: Rankings and figures can strengthen answers in GS-III (environment, pollution control) and essay paper.

5. Case studies for ethics/GS-IV: Indore and Chandigarh serve as examples of effective public policy implementation and citizen engagement.

Takeaway: The 2025 rankings reaffirm that air quality management is not just about reducing pollution levels but about building institutional capacity, community participation and sustainable urban practices. Indore’s consistent lead proves that environmental success is as much about governance innovation as about technical interventions.

Info Nugget

Ravneet Kaur

TNS

What is Swachh Vayu Survekshan?

The parameters of assessment

Key results of 2025 survey

Why this matters for UPSC aspirants

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