VIJAYAWADA: In a major boost to Andhra Pradesh’s urban air quality management, Guntur City and Vijayawada Ward-60 secured All-India Rank 2 in their respective categories at the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan (SVS) 2026 awards. The national honours were formally presented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on Swachh Vayu Diwas at a ceremony in New Delhi.
The winning municipalities’ Commissioners received the awards in the presence of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and MoEF&CC Secretary Tanmay Kumar.
The official technical assessment released by the MA&UD Department highlights a strong performance for AP, which fielded all 13 of its designated Non-Attainment Cities (NACs) and covered 726 wards under the newly introduced ward-level evaluation framework.
Competing in Category-II for cities with populations between 3 and 10 lakh, Guntur City scored 195 out of 200 to secure All-India Rank 2 along with a national cash prize allocation. This marks Guntur’s national showing, improving from Rank 6 with 192 marks in SVS 2025 and surpassing its Rank 3 in SVS 2023.
At localised level, Vijayawada Ward-60 achieved All-India Rank 2 in Category-II (population between 10,000-30,000), securing a `30 lakh national cash award.
At the State level, additional ward-level recognition was awarded to GMC Ward-42 of Guntur (`25 lakh), Vijayawada Ward-31 (`15 lakh), and Nellore Ward-06 (`10 lakh).
City performances were systematically evaluated on a 200-mark framework prioritising road dust abatement, municipal solid waste burning prevention, vehicular emission monitoring, and industrial pollution enforcement. Because AP has no Category-I wards with populations exceeding 30,000, inspections focused exclusively on 12 Category-II wards & 27 Category-III wards following Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) vigil.
The SVS 2026 results revealed upward mobility among several AP cities compared to previous cycle. Eluru recorded most dramatic surge, jumping 27 positions from Rank 31 (157.5 marks) in SVS 2025 to Rank 4 (193 marks) in Category-III.
Vizianagaram advanced from Rank 8 to Rank 6 (189.5 marks), Vijayawada moved from Rank 13 to Rank 8 (186 marks) in Category-I, Nellore went to Rank 9 from Rank 18 (187 marks), and Srikakulam climbed from Rank 16 to Rank 11 (185.5 marks).
Conversely, Rajahmundry dropped to Rank 14, Vizag fell to Rank 21, Ongole slid to Rank 25, Chittoor moved to Rank 26, and Kadapa declined to Rank 34, while Kurnool maintained its position at Rank 29.
MA&UD Minister P Narayana stated that the achievements reflect the state’s ongoing effort to build liveable urban environments. MA&UD Principal Secretary S Suresh Kumar added that new rankings emphasises plans to replicate clean-air models across lagging cities.