Ranchi: Jharkhand’s cities put up a mixed show in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026, with Dhanbad outperforming Ranchi and Jamshedpur among the state’s three cities assessed in the million-plus population category.The results of the fifth edition of the survey were released by the Union environment ministry at an event in New Delhi on Monday.Dhanbad emerged as Jharkhand’s best performer, scoring 174.5 points and securing the 18th rank nationally. Ranchi finished 27th with 162.5 points, while Jamshedpur scored 147.3 points to rank 36th. Jamshedpur had the fourth-lowest score among the 48 cities listed in the category.Delhi, which frequently grapples with severe air pollution, ranked 21st with 172 points. However, the survey is not a direct ranking of cities by ambient air quality alone. It evaluates measures taken to control road dust, municipal solid waste, vehicular and industrial emissions, construction and demolition waste and other pollution sources, besides public awareness initiatives. Lucknow topped the million-plus category with 198 points, followed by Indore with 197 and Jabalpur with 195.Jharkhand also secured three state-level honours in the ward rankings. Ranchi Municipal Corporation’s ward 29 was selected in the category for wards with populations above 30,000, while ward 26 won in the 10,000-30,000 category. Dhanbad’s ward 15 received the honour in the below-10,000 category.The survey covered all 130 cities under the National Clean Air Programme, divided into three population groups: below 3 lakh, 3 lakh to 10 lakh and above 10 lakh.
