Swachh Survekshan 2024-25, the national cleanliness survey started nine years ago, has sprung several surprises. While Indore continued to be the cleanest city among smaller cities, as it has been for the last few years, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Lucknow have emerged as top performers among cities with more than 10 lakh population. Hyderabad was adjudged the sixth cleanest city in the country, after Raipur and Jabalpur. The capital city of Telangana was the only one among the six major metros — which together contribute nearly 20 per cent of the country’s economy — to feature in the top 10 list. All other metros fared poorly in the cleanliness survey, with Delhi ranked 31st, Greater Mumbai 33rd, Bengaluru 36th and Chennai 38th. Kolkata, which was once the national capital and industrial hub of the country, did not figure in the list of the top 40 clean cities. While the survey has undoubtedly highlighted the poor state of affairs in Indian metros, the Central government must be conscious of the fact that it cannot club cities like Raipur, Jabalpur, Gwalior, or even Visakhapatnam, with the six major metropolitan cities. Only the six metros have populations of more than one crore — Delhi (3.38 crore), Mumbai (2.16 crore), Kolkata (1.55 crore), Bengaluru (1.4 crore), Chennai (1.2 crore) and Hyderabad (1.1 crore). Given the size of their populations as well as their economic activity, the six metros face an incredible amount of strain — due to both their large resident and migrant populations — on civic infrastructure, which is far greater than in cities like Agra, Jabalpur or Raipur. It is, therefore, not apt to compare the six metros with other cities, as they are in a separate league. If there were a separate category for these metros, Hyderabad would have topped it, followed by Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. However, the survey findings should serve as a guiding light for these cities to improve their civic offerings to people.
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