Delhi Plummets in Clean Air Rankings: Urgent Action Needed

Delhi has dropped 25 places to rank 32nd in the latest Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan, a government initiative assessing air quality efforts across 48 cities. The national capital's position comes amid criticism over poor utilization of pollution control funds.

Indore has maintained its leading position in the over 10 lakh population category, followed by Jabalpur, Agra, and Surat. Cities in the 3-10 lakh population category saw Amravati taking the top spot, with Noida slipping to ninth.

The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) has called for immediate action from authorities in Delhi and Noida, among others, to improve fund utilization. Currently, only 72.4% of the allocated funds have been used nationwide, with Delhi spending just 32.65% of its allocation.

(With inputs from agencies.)