Blitz Bureau
LUCKNOW has secured the third rank among the cleanest cities in the country in the million-plus population category in the Swachh Shahar Awards 2024-25. Ahmedabad bagged the first position and Bhopal second in this category. President Droupadi Murmu honoured the city during a ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on July 17.
The Swachh Shahar Awards 2024-25 are a subcategory of the national cleanliness survey Swachh Survekshan conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
The state capital’s rank recognised the progress the city has made in solid waste management, cleanliness and public hygiene. With a total score of 12,001 out of 12,500, Lucknow displayed a strong performance in all major assessment areas, especially in citizen-centric parameters like feedback and onground cleanliness.
Lucknow earned full marks in the Garbage-Free City (GFC) component —1,300 out of 1,300—and also scored a perfect 1,200 in Open Defecation Free (ODF) certification. In the 3–10 lakh population category, Noida secured the top spot as the cleanest city, with Chandigarh coming in second and Mysuru ranking third. This year’s survey, the ninth edition of Swachh Survekshan, assessed over 4,500 cities using a rigorous framework of 10 parameters and 54 indicators, with a focus on sanitation, waste management, and service delivery.
Indore’s continued dominance earned it a place in the newly introduced Super Swachh League, a category created to recognise cities that have consistently ranked in the top three over the past three years and remain in the top 20 per cent of their population category. Indore not only topped this elite league but also received the highest marks among the 23 cities included.
