Bengal's Haldia breaks into top 10 in annual clean air survey

Kolkata, Sep 9 (PTI) West Bengal recorded a mixed performance in an annual government survey on efforts to improve air quality, with Haldia making it to the top 10 in the small-city category, even as Kolkata and Howrah figured lower in the large-city list.

In the ‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan’ rankings published on Tuesday, Kolkata was placed 38th among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh, just ahead of Howrah, which stood at 39th.

In contrast, Asansol emerged as the state’s best performer in this category, securing the 20th position, while Durgapur was ranked 37th in the medium city segment (population between 3-10 lakh), an official release said.

Haldia stood out as a bright spot for West Bengal, securing the 9th position among cities with less than 3-lakh population, it said.

Indore ranked first among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh, followed by Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). Agra (Uttar Pradesh) and Surat (Gujarat) shared the third position.

‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan’ is an annual ranking initiative launched by the environment ministry under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). It evaluates cities and urban agglomerations based on their implementation of clean-air action plans and actual air-quality improvements, using a structured framework. PTI BSM RBT