Varanasi is less polluted than Lucknow despite having a much higher population density, according to latest studies. Varanasi scored favourably over Lucknow on parameters of air pollution, water pollution and municipal solid waste, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has noted in its latest report (March 31, 2016). The report was tabled in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Thursday and factored in studies conducted between 2011 and 2015 by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the U.P. Jal Nigam. The audit report noticed that the water pollution in river Ganga near Varanasi and air pollution in Varanasi during the period 2011-2015 was less than that of the river Gomti in Lucknow. As per the 2011 Census, Varanasi has a population density of 2,395 persons per square km while the figure for Lucknow 1,816. Quality improves Further, while the water quality of the Ganga in Varanasi improved, that of the Gomti in Lucknow is deteriorating, the report…