Swachh Survekshan 2024-25: Ghaziabad municipal corporation rank improves to 11 from 38

The corporation also secured 3rd rank in Uttar Pradesh, among the cities having a population of more than 1 million

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad municipal corporation under the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 secured 11th rank in the list of cities having a population of over 1 million, improving its position from 38 in 2023 when it was grouped under the category of cities having a population of more than 0.1 million.

This time, the city secured 100% scores in each of the benchmarks of remediation of dumpsites, cleanliness of residential areas, cleanliness of market areas, and cleanliness of water bodies. (Sakib Ali/HT Archives)

The results were declared by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The corporation also secured 3rd rank in Uttar Pradesh, among the cities having a population of more than 1 million.

The two other cities include municipal corporations of Lucknow and Agra at 1 and 2 spots, respectively.

“We have improved our national rank to 11 this year and improved our garbage-free city (GFC) ranking from last year’s rating of 3 to 5 this year, and strive to achieve the highest rating of 7. Likewise, we have also improved our open defecation free++ (ODF++) status to the Water Plus category,” said Mithilesh Kumar, the corporation’s city health officer.

The GFC is a concept under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), aiming to improve sanitation and waste management. The Water Plus concept focuses on cities that have achieved an improved standard of used water management and its re-use.

This time, the city secured 100% scores in each of the benchmarks of remediation of dumpsites, cleanliness of residential areas, cleanliness of market areas, and cleanliness of water bodies. It also scored 98% in door-to-door collection of waste; 91% in waste generation and its processing; and 97% in cleanliness of public toilets.

“The only score where we lost vital points is source segregation of waste, where we could secure only 57%. This will be improved with active participation of citizens when they fully segregate the waste at home. The door-to-door collection of solid waste is prevalent in all 100 wards with the help of 752 vehicles,” Kumar added.

The officials said that corporation areas consist of 100 residential wards, and there is a daily generation of about 1700 metric tons of solid waste. The corporation is already taking up night cleaning activities in 35 big city markets and 133 public toilets across the city, they added.

“We removed about 15 lakh metric tons of legacy waste from Indirapuram, Morta, Bhikhhanpur, Pratap Vihar, and others. Miyawaki plantation was carried out on about 19.6 hectares of land, and the plants have grown into trees. As a result, the corporation achieved a five-star rating,” said Vikramaditya Malik, municipal commissioner.(said in a statement)

“Improved ranking is an outcome of team effort. However, the city faces a major challenge in land availability for processing of solid waste. Due to these issues, our waste-to-energy plant at Galand is yet to come. Otherwise, we would have ranked among the top five cities in the country,” said Sunita Dayal, city mayor.

Meanwhile, four local bodies of Loni (Big cities with population between 0.3 to 1 million), Modinagar, Muradnagar and Khoda-Makanpur (medium cities with population between 0.5 to 0.3 million) secured national ranks of 60, 34, 311, and 252, respectively.