Nagpur has slipped to the 27th spot out of 40 cities with over one million population in the latest Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 rankings, announced by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday. The low rank marks a significant blow to the city’s cleanliness mission, highlighting a lack of progress in improving sanitation standards.
While cities like Ahmedabad (Rank 1), Bhopal (2), and Raipur (4) topped the national charts, Nagpur fell behind several peers—both nationally and within Maharashtra. Cities such as Pimpri Chinchwad (7), Pune (8), Thane (15), Nashik (22), and Kalyan-Dombivli (24) all secured better ranks than Nagpur in the million-plus population category.
Nagpur secured 9,328 points under the Swachh Survekshan League (SSL), which assesses year-round cleanliness performance. Meanwhile, Indore maintained its winning streak for the eighth year in a row, with Surat, Navi Mumbai, and Vijayawada closely following in the top ranks.
Despite efforts by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to improve solid waste management and sanitation, the city once again failed to earn even a single star in the Garbage Free City (GFC) rating. This continued poor performance highlights key gaps in scientific waste processing, handling of legacy waste dumps, and public participation in source segregation.
On a slightly brighter note, Nagpur retained its Water+ certification under the Open Defecation Free (ODF) category, owing to the reuse of treated wastewater and the presence of public toilets. However, its attempt to achieve the higher Water++ certification was unsuccessful, indicating that it did not meet the advanced standards required for urban sanitation.
With growing scrutiny, civic authorities now face a tough challenge—translating plans into effective action to raise the city’s sanitation and hygiene standards in the coming years.
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