IISc researchers urge overhaul of national air quality ranking system

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science have called for a comprehensive review of the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan ranking framework, arguing that the current system is compromised by fundamental design flaws that undermine its credibility as a measure of urban air quality management.

According to the IISc report, the framework suffers from critical vulnerabilities, most notably the structural conflict of interest inherent in allowing Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to serve as self-assessors. This arrangement creates an inherent bias in the evaluation process, where municipalities responsible for air quality initiatives are simultaneously tasked with measuring their own effectiveness, the researchers contend.

The study highlights how this self-assessment model compromises the integrity of comparative rankings across cities, potentially obscuring genuine performance disparities and creating misleading comparisons that may not reflect actual air quality outcomes on the ground.

The Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan framework, designed to rank cities on their air quality management practices, has been positioned as a key tool in India's efforts to combat urban pollution. However, the IISc findings suggest that meaningful reform is necessary to establish independent assessment mechanisms and eliminate institutional biases that currently plague the system.

The research adds to growing scrutiny of India's environmental monitoring systems, underscoring the need for robust, transparent methodologies in tracking progress toward national air quality improvement goals.