Bengaluru: Karnataka’s fight against worsening air pollution delivered a mixed result in the latest Swachh Vayu Survekshan, released by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Three of the state’s Tier 2 cities — Davanagere, Hubballi-Dharwad, and Kalaburagi — made it to the list of India’s top 40 cities with clean air.The survey categorises cities based on population, with all three Karnataka entries falling in category 2 (3-10 lakh population). Davanagere in central Karnataka emerged as the state’s best performer, climbing from 25th rank in 2024 to 14th this year. Its score rose from 158.8 to 178.2, reflecting effective implementation of pollution-control measures. Hubballi-Dharwad also posted gains, improving from 22nd (162 points) to 20th (170.4 points). Both cities benefitted from tighter monitoring, better waste management, and awareness drives that targeted transport emissions and road dust.Kalaburagi, however, slipped three places — from 33rd (146.7 points) to 36th (145.1 points) — owing to marginal deterioration in air quality. Officials noted that while progress was made, sustained efforts were needed to tackle emissions from cement industries, construction, and growing vehicular traffic. The rankings were based on the methods adopted by the administrations to tackle the burning of biomass and municipal waste, road dust, construction activities, vehicular emissions, industrial emissions, and other pollutant activities.The MoEFCC rankings revealed a considerable difference compared to the performance report published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in early 2025 based on NCAP. Contrary to the latest list, 21 of 25 cities in Karnataka had met the national average for PM10 pollutants, with 12 cities attaining ‘satisfactory’ air quality, followed by 13 cities with ‘good’ quality air. As many as four Tier 2 cities figured in the list of top 10 cities for the best air quality in India in that list. However, none of them have made it to the top 10 in the latest national ranking.
