Delhi civic body jumps 59 places to 31st spot in Swachh Survekshan 2024-25

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has secured the 31st position in the 'Medium Cities' category in the ninth edition of the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2024-25.

The awards, announced on Thursday, were based on the world's largest urban sanitation survey conducted under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban.

This edition of the survey saw participation from 4,589 Urban Local Bodies, a significant increase from just 73 participating cities in 2016 when the exercise was first launched.

Reacting to the result of the survey, MCD Commissioner Ashwini Kumar highlighted the challenges of maintaining cleanliness in a megacity like Delhi and said, "We have intensified deep cleaning efforts, tackled unauthorised dumping points and the issues of unauthorised colonies on a day-to-day basis.

"As the scale of the problem keeps growing, it requires consistent effort and public awareness. Deep cleaning alone won't help unless people stop dumping waste in unauthorised spots. We need to educate citizens and bring about a behavioural change for a lasting impact," he told PTI.

For the first time, the survey introduced a classification of cities into five population categories - Very Small Cities (less than 20,000), Small Cities (20,000-50,000), Medium Cities (50,000-3 lakh), Big Cities (3-10 lakh) and Million-Plus Cities (more than 10 lakh).

Guided by the theme "Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse," the 2024-25 edition emphasised circularity in waste management and sustainable sanitation practices.

Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai and Vijayawada topped the 'Super Swachh League' in the Million-Plus Cities category.

The 2024-25 survey aims to assess progress under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and rank cities on various cleanliness and sanitation parameters, including solid waste management, citizen feedback, and capacity building.

According to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, 14 crore people participated in the survey through face-to-face interactions, the Swachhata App, MyGov and various social media platforms across more than 4,500 cities.