SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 18 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 23 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

We doubt SSC's key on this question.

The CPCB's Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 result ranks Surat first among cities over 10 lakh (Indore tied sixth), so no option won the 2024 edition; the keyed Indore topped the 2023 and 2025 editions.

The answer below is still the option SSC's key marks, and we solve to that option.

Which Indian city topped the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2024 in the category of cities with a population over 10 lakh?

(a)Bengaluru
(b)Indore
(c)Mumbai
(d)Ahmedabad

Answer

Why

Correct — B. SSC keys Indore, the city that topped the over-10-lakh category of Swachh Vayu Survekshan in 2023 and 2025. The 2025 awards were presented on 9 September 2025, nine days before this exam.

The CPCB result for the 2024 edition itself puts Surat first, Jabalpur second and Agra third, with Indore tied sixth. Surat is not among the options.

Of the four cities offered, Indore is the one that topped this category in any edition from 2022 to 2025 → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Bengaluru — Bengaluru was not in the top three of the over-10-lakh category in any edition from 2022 to 2025. The winners were Lucknow, Indore, Surat and Indore.
(c)
Mumbai — Mumbai did not place in the top three of this category in any edition from 2022 to 2025, so no year's result makes it the winner.
(d)
Ahmedabad — Ahmedabad was tied seventh in the 2024 edition, behind Surat, Jabalpur and Agra at the top. It did not reach the top three in any edition up to 2025.

Concept

Swachh Vayu Survekshan is the Environment Ministry's ranking of the 130 cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). It scores mainly the pollution-control measures each city carried out. Improvement in PM10 levels carries 2.5 per cent of the weight.

Cities compete in three bands by 2011 Census population: over 10 lakh, 3 to 10 lakh, and under 3 lakh. CPCB evaluates their self-assessments.

The top three in each band are named National Clean Air Cities. The ministry ties the awards to 7 September, the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.

Read literally, the stem's 2024 edition was won by Surat, which is not an option, so none of the four cities won that year. Indore, the keyed city, topped the editions on either side of it.

Key facts

Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2023 (awarded 7 September 2023, Bhopal), over 10 lakh: Indore 1st, Agra 2nd, Thane 3rd.
Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 (awarded 7 September 2024, Jaipur), over 10 lakh: Surat 1st, Jabalpur 2nd, Agra 3rd.
Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2025 (awarded 9 September 2025, Delhi), over 10 lakh: Indore 1st, Jabalpur 2nd, Agra and Surat joint 3rd.
The survey covers the 130 cities of the National Clean Air Programme in three population categories.

Study next

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): city coverage and targetsSwachh Survekshan (cleanliness) versus Swachh Vayu Survekshan (clean air)International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, 7 September

Common traps

Answering from Indore's wins in Swachh Survekshan, the cleanliness survey, which is a different ranking.
Mixing up the editions: 2024's winner was Surat, while Indore won in 2023 and 2025.

This award ranking is asked by edition year and population category, so check both against the result for that year.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Current events — all 232 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.