The quest for cleaner cities

Indore shoes how administrative will and public participation are key

Last week, the Union government announced the results of the Swachh Survekshan 2020, an annual survey that ranks and recognises the performance of cities on sanitation and solid waste management. This year’s survey assessed 4,242 cities in 28 days, and Madhya Pradesh’s Indore topped the list of cities with more than 100,000 people. The bestperforming state with more than 100 cities is Maharashtra, and with less than 100 cities is Madhya Pradesh. The cleanest capital city is New Delhi.

Over the years, these rankings have mainstreamed discussions on public hygiene and pushed cities to become cleaner. For instance, before it was praised for its cleanliness drive in 2017, Indore battled a mounting garbage problem. Since then, the Indore Municipal Corporation has done away with garbage dumps, implemented 100% household-waste segregation and converted waste to usable products and partnered with non-governmental organisations to change citizen behaviour. There have also been changes in the ranking methodology to make it more competitive and robust, although some states have criticised its metrics and methodology as well.

While the Centre must look into these grievances, laggard cities must also emulate the cities that are performing well. The scope and size of work will indeed be different for each city, but the basic requirements to achieve these goals are the same: Administrative and political will along with public participation.