Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra has been recognised as the cleanest city in India according to the 10th annual Swachh Survekshan awards. The rankings, announced by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, placed Gujarat’s Surat in second position, while Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh secured the third spot. President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards to the winning cities during a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday.
A significant shift in the standings saw Indore, which had consistently held the title of the country's cleanest city for the past eight years, fail to feature among the winners in the current edition. The awards are part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, a flagship national cleanliness assessment that has expanded from 73 urban local bodies in 2016 to over 4,751 participating cities in the 2025-26 assessment.
In the category for cities with a population exceeding 10 lakh, Greater Visakhapatnam ranked first, followed by Jabalpur and Lucknow. For urban centres with populations ranging between three lakh and 10 lakh, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh emerged as the cleanest, with Chandigarh and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh taking the second and third positions, respectively. Among Himalayan cities, Rudrapur in Uttarakhand took the top spot, followed by Jammu and Shopian, both in Jammu and Kashmir.
The survey also highlighted achievements in specific ecological categories. Rewa in Madhya Pradesh was named the cleanest riverfront town, followed by Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Regarding coastal cleanliness, Puri in Odisha was ranked first, followed by Alappuzha in Kerala and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.
Key facts
- Navi Mumbai ranked first, Surat second, and Vijayawada third in the overall cleanest city category.
- The 10th edition of the survey assessed over 4,751 cities across the country.
- Greater Visakhapatnam topped the 10 lakh-plus population category, while Ujjain led the 3-10 lakh population bracket.
- Rewa was awarded as the cleanest riverfront town, and Puri secured the top position among coastal towns.
- Rudrapur was recognised as the cleanest Himalayan city, with Jammu taking second place.
Why it matters
The Swachh Survekshan aims to drive improvements in urban sanitation, hygiene, and waste management practices. For the 2025-26 cycle, the government introduced enhancements to the evaluation process, placing a greater emphasis on citizen feedback and expanding the scope of the assessment to include coastlines, riverfronts, and water bodies.
The survey also implemented new performance indicators focusing on the prevention of open urination and open defecation. Furthermore, the criteria now include specific metrics for the cleanliness of tourist and heritage hotspots, alongside the implementation of behaviour change initiatives within schools.
Source: The Hindu, Indian Express
Comments