CHENNAI: Chennai has been ranked 35th among 48 cities with a population of more than 10 lakh in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026, finishing below most major metropolitan cities assessed this year.
The city finished behind Hyderabad (19), Delhi (21), Mumbai (28) and Bengaluru (32), but ahead of Kolkata (38). The national million-plus category was topped by Lucknow with 198 points, followed by Indore (197) and Jabalpur (195).
Within Tamil Nadu, Tiruchy performed significantly better than Chennai, ranking 12th nationally with 183 points. Madurai, the third Tamil Nadu city in the above-10-lakh category, ranked 39th with 132.1 points, making it the lowest-ranked million-plus city in the state.
Tamil Nadu also had a city in the smallest population category. Thoothukudi, with a population below three lakh for the survey classification, scored 142.2 points and ranked 35th among 40 cities in that category.
The survey is not simply an AQI ranking. The union government assessed 130 NCAP cities through self-assessment by urban local bodies, approval by State-level Monitoring Committees, evaluation by the Central Pollution Control Board and field verification by independent committees.
The framework considers measures covering road dust, solid-waste management, vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, construction and demolition waste, other emissions and public awareness, besides improvement in air quality.
Under the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan, three wards in each state are recognised for their efforts. In Tamil Nadu, Chennai’s Ward 110 in Nungambakkam was selected as the state’s Category-1 ward for populations above 30,000. Tiruchy’s Ward 22 in Thillainagar won in Category 2, while Ward 11 of Thiruverkkadu Municipality won in Category 3. The three categories carry state-level cash awards of `25 lakh, `15 lakh and `10 lakh respectively.