Bengaluru, renowned as India’s tech capital, found itself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons as it was ranked the fifth dirtiest city in the country in the over one million population category at the Swachh Survekshan 2025 survey. The city’s slipping cleanliness standards stand in contrast to the ambitious infrastructure projects taken on by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state.
While Bengaluru lagged behind in rankings, other major cities soared ahead, with Indore, Surat, and Navi Mumbai entering the exclusive ‘Super Swachh League’, a recognition for those demonstrating exceptional commitment to cleanliness. Ahmedabad, Bhopal, and Lucknow emerged as India’s New Clean Cities, setting benchmarks for urban sanitation, the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 Results Dashboard, launched digitally at the awards on Thursday, showed.
Along with Bengaluru, Ranchi, Chennai, Ludhiana and Madurai were ranked the top dirtiest cities. In contrast, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Lucknow, Raipur and Jabalpur were ranked the top five cleanest cities.
Here is a city report card of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP):
This year’s Swachh Survekshan refined its evaluation framework for large metropolitan areas and simplified it for smaller cities. The changes leveled the playing field, offering smaller cities a genuine opportunity to compete and improve, a press release by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs said.
Adhering to the ‘One City, One Award’ principle, the top-performing city from each state was honored as a ‘Promising Swachh Shehar’. Notably, 34 cities across various States and Union Territories achieved this distinction — an indicator of widespread progress in urban cleanliness and sanitation excellence.
{{/usCountry}}Adhering to the ‘One City, One Award’ principle, the top-performing city from each state was honored as a ‘Promising Swachh Shehar’. Notably, 34 cities across various States and Union Territories achieved this distinction — an indicator of widespread progress in urban cleanliness and sanitation excellence.
{{/usCountry}}READ | Ahmedabad gets cleanest city status in Swachh Survekshan
Addressing the event, President Droupadi Murmu lauded the Ministry’s push for the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R) philosophy and appreciated the symbolic ‘waste to wealth’ memento. Emphasizing the mantra "Waste is best," she drew attention to the crucial role of circularity in the economy, empowerment of youth, generation of green jobs, and promotion of entrepreneurial opportunities, especially for Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
The results of the Swachh Survekshan 2025 survey provide Bengaluru and other lagging metros with a compelling call to action.