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Ludhiana drops to 33rd rank in air survey; MC blames it on rising road repairs
Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan, which is conducted under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), assesses cities on measures taken to reduce air pollution
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While the city is already struggling to manage its solid waste, it has fallen to 33rd spot in Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan-2026 from 18th last year.
Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan, which is conducted under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), assesses cities on measures taken to reduce air pollution. The ranking is decided after assessing things like solid waste management, road dust, vehicular pollution, industrial emissions and reduction in PM10 levels etc. Ludhiana scored 151.2 out of 200 in the survey. The city had ranked 31st in 2024 in Category 1, which includes cities with a population above 10 lakh, and 28th in 2023.
The city is already fighting a battle to manage its solid waste. The city produces 1,100 metric tonnes of solid waste every day and the waste processing plant in Jamalpur can only process 300 metric tonnes a day.
The Municipal Corporation has attributed this fall in ranking to an increase in road repair projects across the city ahead of election year.
“The Municipal Corporation has undertaken road repairs and construction projects across the city this year. This leads to dust, slowing down traffic, which causes more pollution,” said municipal commissioner Ojasvi Alankar.
Alankar, who was additional chief administrator, Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), before being posted as the municipal commissioner recently, also noted that there has been a real estate boom around the city.
“During my time there we saw the number of real estate projects go up in the last year or so. GLADA issued more permissions in this period,” he said as he explained how the city slipped 15 spots within a year.
However, figures on real estate projects around the city were not immediately available, said chief administrator, GLADA, Vikas Hira.
Chief engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board, RK Ratra said that the city hadn’t seen any notable rise in industrial pollution over the last year for such a big change.
Starting this July many roads in the city were dug up to lay pipeline for the MC’s canal water supply project. Many of these roads were covered but not blacktopped for months leading to dust and air pollution.
Social activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira from the Public Action Committee, who has been active in highlighting environmental issues, also blamed the “deteriorated condition of roads in the last one year” for the rise in air pollution.
“Most of the roads in the city are potholed or damaged. Some were scrapped for fresh reconstruction but it took so long to recarpet these roads. Gill Road is an example of this,” he said.
