TV
Odisha’s Angul town has once again earned national recognition for its efforts to improve air quality, securing the third position in the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2025 under the category of cities with less than three lakh population.
The results were declared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on Tuesday at a ceremony in New Delhi.
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav presented the awards during the Swachh Vayu Survekshan Awards and Wetland Cities Recognition Ceremony. Angul was one among 130 urban centres evaluated under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Officials credited the achievement to sustained measures such as strengthening of road infrastructure, awareness drives among residents, and strict enforcement of curbs on the entry of heavy, polluting trucks into the town over the last two years.
These interventions, they said, have led to measurable improvements in local air quality. The award also carries a cash incentive of Rs 12.5 lakh, which will be used to further strengthen clean air initiatives.
This marks the second major recognition for Angul, which had earlier been honoured in the 2023 edition of the survey. It also remains the only urban centre from Odisha to make it into the top three rankings this year.
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Elsewhere in the state, Bhubaneswar showed progress in its category of cities with 3–10 lakh population, climbing from seventh place last year to fifth this time. Talcher, another Odisha town, maintained its fourth-place ranking in the under-three-lakh population category for the second year in a row.
