Srinagar, Sep 13: Srinagar’s performance on air pollution has sharply deteriorated, slipping from 4th rank in 2023 to 26th in the 2026 Swachh Vayu Survekshan, among 39 Indian cities with populations of 10 lakh and above.

The Jammu & Kashmir Climate Action Group (JKCAG) has urged legislators to raise the issue and demanded stringent measures to check the worsening air quality in Srinagar and across Jammu & Kashmir.
JKCAG Chairman Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat termed the situation “very much alarming” and called for an in-depth inquiry into the city’s dramatic fall in ranking within three years.
Bhat attributed the worsening air quality to open burning of municipal waste, inadequate dust control, a surge in outside vehicles, illegal cement plants and stone crushers, poor construction and demolition waste management, and the lack of sustained public awareness campaigns.
“Last year, the Air Quality Index touched almost 300. This autumn and early winter would be terrible,” Bhat said, urging the government to act and legislators to put pressure on the concerned authorities.
Srinagar scored 162.6 points in the latest survey and ranked 26th, while Delhi ranked 21st with 172 points. Lucknow topped the list, followed by Indore, Jabalpur and Bhopal.
The Swachh Vayu Survekshan, launched in 2023 under the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), is conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
JKCAG has called for accountability, stronger enforcement and urgent pollution-control measures before the coming winter worsens the situation.