Jaipur: Alwar and Udaipur emerged as Rajasthan’s top performers in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026, ranking sixth and eighth respectively among cities with populations of 3 lakh to 10 lakh, while Jaipur ranked 20th among cities with over 10 lakh population.Jodhpur ranked 24th and Kota 37th in their respective categories. The rankings were announced Monday and assess the steps taken by cities to tackle pollution sources and implement clean-air action plans, rather than ranking them solely on annual air-quality levels.Rajasthan has expanded its clean-air programme over the past two years, with new monitoring stations, source-apportionment studies, dust-control measures and tighter industrial emission checks being rolled out across the state.The 2026-27 state budget has allocated Rs 20 crore for continuous ambient air-quality monitoring stations in Alwar, Kotputli-Behror, Khairthal-Tijara and Bharatpur. The govt has also announced an environmental research laboratory and an R&D cell in Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB).An RSPCB official said the state now has 57 National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) stations, 46 continuous real-time monitoring stations and two mobile monitoring vans. As many as 666 industries have also been brought under the online continuous emission/effluent monitoring system.RSPCB has conducted source-apportionment and emission-inventory studies in Jaipur, Alwar, Kota, Jodhpur and Bhiwadi to identify major pollution sources. The studies covered emissions from sectors including vehicles, road and construction dust and industries.The board has also introduced measures to curb industrial air pollution in Rajasthan’s NCR areas, including a mechanism for imposing environmental compensation.The state’s 2025-26 Budget Speech had announced anti-smog guns, smog towers in high-traffic areas, mechanical road sweepers and air-quality monitoring stations for NCR and NCAP cities. It also proposed water sprinklers, mechanical sweeping and plantation work in 50 urban areas.Separately, Commission for Air Quality Management reviewed the 2026 action plans for Alwar, Bharatpur and Bhiwadi in Jan, focusing on vehicular emissions, road and open-area dust, construction and demolition waste, municipal solid waste and industrial emissions.Rajasthan also secured three state-level ward awards under the survey. Jaipur’s Wards 135 and 41 and Alwar’s Ward 64, featured in their respective population categories.
