BHUBANESWAR: Two industrial hubs of Odisha- Rourkela and Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district - have bagged top rank in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan-2026, results of which were announced by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on Monday.
As per the national-level assessment, state capital Bhubaneswar continued to retain its position as the fourth best clean-air city in the country for the second consecutive year.
Other industrial towns of Angul and Talcher have also improved their ranks in the assessment carried out by the CPCB under the NCAP to assess reductions in particulate matter 10 (PM10) levels compared to the baseline year of 2017-18. Ranks of Cuttack and Balasore, however, dropped further.
The rankings were based on the participation and performance of 130 cities covered under the NCAP in three categories - Category I, comprising cities with a population of above 10 lakh; Category II comprising cities with a population between 3-10 lakh; and Category III comprising cities with a population below three lakh.
Rourkela, with a score of 198.5 out of 200, emerged as the number one city among the 42 Category II cities assessed. The report revealed that the steel city, which had plunged to rank 19 in 2025 from 12 in 2024, made a giant leap of 18 positions to grab the number one spot this year. Capital city Bhubaneswar scored 193.5.
In the Category III segment, Kalinga Nagar, with a score of 198.5, stood first while Angul, with a score of 196.5, stood second. Talcher scored 193.5 to be placed third among the 40 small cities assessed in the category.
On the flip side, Cuttack’s rank dropped for the second consecutive year. The city, with a score of 174, stood at rank 21 compared to rank nine in 2024 and rank 12 in 2025 among Category II cities. Balasore, which was ranked seventh in 2024 and 11th in 2025 among Category III cities, stood at rank 24 this year, with a score of 170.
Apart from cities, two wards - Ward no 30, covering Sahid Nagar and other areas, and Ward no 36, covering Unit-V, Sachivalaya Marg and other areas - were also adjudged number one clean-air urban wards among wards with population in the range of 10,000 to 30,000. Ward no 13 in Rourkela came first among wards with a population of up to 10,000 in the assessment. Ward no 22 in Bhubaneswar and Ward no 43 in Cuttack were also adjudged the best.
H&UD minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said, “This achievement is not merely a recognition of our efforts, but a renewed responsibility to make clean air a sustained priority in every city and town of Odisha.”