Swachh Survekshan 2025-26: Ghaziabad Ranks First in Uttar Pradesh, Noida Sixth Nationally

The news

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 awards at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on 11 November 2026, with Ghaziabad ranked first among Uttar Pradesh cities in the clean-city category. The city had stood third in the state in the previous survey. The President awarded the Mayor Sunita Dayal and Municipal Commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik, along with state Urban Development Minister A K Sharma.

The survey, conducted under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, used the theme “Join hands, clean together”. Assessment criteria included citizen feedback, the condition of footpaths and dividers, sewer and septic-tank cleaning, toilet maintenance, household waste segregation, vehicle tracking for waste collection, and the status of open defecation. The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation reported eliminating approximately 100 waste collection points during the year and running awareness campaigns in schools. Residents, while welcoming the ranking, said older areas such as Vijay Nagar and Nandgram still need better sanitation and regular roadside waste collection.

Separately, the Noida Authority’s General Manager S P Singh said Noida ranked sixth nationally in the same survey, up from 14th in 2023. The Authority attributed the improvement to long-term strategy, continuous improvement in cleaning systems and citizen participation.

When was the Swachh Survekshan survey first launched?

The Swachh Survekshan survey was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 2016 as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, which itself began on 2 October 2014. The survey was designed to rank cities on sanitation and cleanliness parameters, moving beyond output to measure outcomes and citizen feedback. The Quality Council of India was engaged as the implementation partner for the survey. The first edition in 2016 ranked 73 cities, and Mysuru was declared the cleanest city in India that year.

What does the Swachh Survekshan assess?

Swachh Survekshan is an annual urban cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban. The 2025-26 edition assessed cities on citizen satisfaction, waste segregation at source, condition of footpaths, dividers, drains and public toilets, sewer and septic-tank cleaning, vehicle tracking for waste collection, and the prevalence of open defecation. The criteria link visible cleanliness with service delivery and public participation rather than measuring street sweeping alone.

What did Ghaziabad do to improve, and what gaps remain?

The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation removed around 100 waste collection points, ran school awareness campaigns on waste segregation, and planted trees on cleared land. The Mayor credited residents for adopting waste segregation and the plastic-free campaign. However, residents pointed out that older neighbourhoods such as Vijay Nagar and Nandgram still need regular roadside waste collection, indicating that the citywide ranking coexists with local sanitation gaps.