Gurugram gets its highest ever ranking in Swachh Survekshan Survey 2022

Gurugram ranked 19 among 382 cities (with a population between 1-10 lakh) in the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2022, its highest-ever ranking since the central government survey was launched in 2015. This year’s survey witnessed the participation of 4,355 cities across the country and the results were announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Saturday. The city ranked 24 among 425 cities last year.

Gurugram achieved 5544 points out of 7500 and ranked 1 across 19 districts in Haryana.

The 7500 points were broadly divided into three categories — service level progress, certification, and citizen voice. The city received 2546, 600, and 1798 points respectively in the three categories.

According to officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), the city was evaluated on parameters such as waste segregation, waste collection, waste processing, and waste disposal in the service level progress category. Certifications such as Open Defecation, GFC, and Water Plus (treatment of wastewater) were considered in the second category while feedback from residents on general cleanliness standards was considered in the third.

“After the survey results were declared, MCG commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja said that Gurugram will perform even better in next year’s survey. He asked citizens to continue cooperating with and providing support to the civic body in this manner,” SS Rohilla, public relations officer (PRO), MCG, informed.

The city also bagged a three-star rating in the Garbage Free City (GFC) category for the second consecutive year. A city is ranked on a seven-star scale on key parameters such as door-to-door waste collection, sweeping, plastic ban, and C&D waste collection in this category.

However, environmentalists opined that the rankings do not paint an accurate picture of ground realities. “The rankings are an eyewash. The Bandhwari landfill is a glaring issue, along with door-to-door waste collection and C&D waste dumping. There has been no major improvement in key parameters and hence a better ranking seems bizarre,” Vaishali Rana, a city-based environmentalist, said.