Bengaluru ranked fifth dirtiest among major Indian cities in Swachh Survekshan 2025

Bengaluru was ranked the fifth dirtiest city in India in the Swachh Survekshan 2025 survey, contrasting with the government's infrastructure projects.

Published on: Jul 22, 2025, 09:05:15 IST

By Yamini C S, Bengaluru

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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.

Bengaluru's national ranking was at 36 and state ranking was at 15. (PTI)

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):

Bengaluru's Swachh Survekshan Ranking as per the survey.

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.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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