Performance of Uttar Pradesh in Swachhta Survekshan 2024-25

• 19 Jul 2025

Why in News? 

Lucknow was ranked the third cleanest city in the country, following Ahmedabad and Bhopal, in the million-plus population category under the Swachhta Survekshan 2024-25, with the winners being honored by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi. 

Key Points 

• Top Performer: 
  • Lucknow: 
    • Ranking: 3rd cleanest city in the country (Million-plus population category). 
    • Milestone: Achieved a 7-star garbage GFC rating, becoming the first city in Uttar Pradesh to do so. 
  • Prayagraj: Earned special recognition as the Cleanest Ganga Town, securing first place in the country after defeating Varanasi. 
  • Noida: 
    • Ranking: Topped the Super Swachh League chart in the 3 lakh-10 lakh population category. 
      • A new category introduced to rank top-tier performers separately. 
• Other Notable Achievements: 
  • Seven UP Cities in Top 20 (Million-plus category) 
    • Cities: Lucknow, Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Noida 
  • Awards for Maha Kumbh 2025: Special awards for cleanliness and sanitation practices during the Maha Kumbh, highlighting the state's successful sanitation efforts during large-scale events. 
  • Cities with Top Ratings: 
    • 5-Star Rating: Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Noida 
    • 3rd Place in Safaimitra Surakshit Shaher Category: Gorakhpur 
    • Top 10 Cleanest Cities (3-10 lakh population): Gorakhpur (3rd), Moradabad (10th) 
    • Emerging Clean City: Agra (Ranked 32nd nationally) 
• New Water-Plus Achievements: 
  • 16 cities achieved Water-plus status for the first time, including Bijnor and Shamshabad 
    • Water-plus status awarded to local bodies excelling in sanitation, water management, and recycling practices. 
  • Among 17 municipal corporations, 13 received Water-plus status, a significant increase from the previous year (only 2 cities had Water-plus status) 
• Improvements in Waste Management: 
  • Increase in Verified Door-to-Door Garbage Collection: Up from 48% to 62% in one year  
  • Increase in Garbage Processing: Up from 48% to 85% in one year 
• Statewide Improvements: 
  • Urban Local Bodies (ULBs): 83 urban local bodies improved their rankings compared to the previous year 
  • ODF++ ULBs: 337 ULBs declared as ODF++ (Open Defecation Free++), a significant increase from the previous year (129 ULBs). 

Swachh Survekshan 

• About: Swachh Survekshan, conducted by the MoHUA since 2016, is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey under the Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U). 
  • Swachh Survekshan Awards are annual rankings and recognitions given to cities and urban local bodies (ULBs) under the Swachh Survekshan. 
  • It aims to foster citizen participation, generate awareness on sanitation, and promote competitive federalism through performance benchmarking. 
• Swachh Survekshan 2025: Under the revamped framework of Swachh Survekshan 2025( 9th edition), indicators have been simplified and restructured into 10 comprehensive sections. 
  • The annual theme for 2025 is “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R)”, promoting circular economy principles in line with the Jaipur Declaration adopted at the 12th Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum (March 2025).