SRINAGAR: Srinagar recorded only four days of poor air quality in 2025, making it one of the cleanest monitored cities in northern India, the Union Government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
In a written reply to an unstarred question, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said Srinagar registered 230 ‘good days’—classified under good, satisfactory and moderate Air Quality Index (AQI) categories—and only four ‘bad days’ falling in the poor category. The city recorded 92 days with ‘Good’ AQI, 105 ‘Satisfactory’ days, 33 ‘Moderate’ days and four ‘Poor’ days, with no ‘Very Poor’ or ‘Severe’ AQI days during the monitoring period.
The Ministry also released data for Pampore, which recorded nine good AQI days and three poor AQI days during the period for which monitoring data was available.
The Centre acknowledged that several northern cities, including Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Kanpur and Ludhiana, continue to experience prolonged spells of very poor and severe air quality, but said multiple measures are being implemented to curb pollution.
The government said the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is being implemented in 130 cities across 24 States and Union Territories, with Rs 16,423.56 crore released between 2019-20 and 2025-26 for air quality improvement. Of these, 46 cities in nine northern States and Union Territories received Rs 5,338.21 crore.
According to the Ministry, 108 cities recorded lower annual PM10 concentrations in 2025-26 compared with 2017-18, while 72 cities achieved reductions exceeding 20 per cent and 26 cities recorded reductions of more than 40 per cent. It added that 14 cities met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards in 2025-26, up from six cities in 2017-18.
The Centre said measures to improve air quality include stricter industrial emission standards, Bharat Stage-VI fuel and vehicle norms, promotion of electric vehicles, expansion of air quality monitoring, dust-control measures at construction sites, improved solid waste management and action against crop-residue burning.
The Ministry further said the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is conducting surveillance of air pollution-related illnesses through a network of more than 230 sentinel surveillance sites across 30 States and Union Territories, while digital surveillance of acute respiratory infections has been operational through the Integrated Health Information Portal since August 2023.
