Uttar Pradesh has registered a splendid improvement in urban sanitation and cleanliness performance in the latest edition of Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2024-2025, compared to SS 2023. The state has seen remarkable progress in key indicators such as Water+ certification, ODF++ coverage, and the number of Garbage Free Cities (GFCs).
Marked Improvement in Water+ and ODF++ Certifications
In 2023, only two cities—Prayagraj and Noida—achieved Water+ status. However, in 2024, the number surged to 16 cities, including Noida, reflecting enhanced wastewater management and treatment across urban bodies.
Similarly, the number of cities certified as ODF++—a tag indicating safe sanitation systems—rose from 129 in SS 2023 to 337 in SS 2024, showcasing the state’s growing focus on effective fecal sludge and septage management.
Garbage Free Cities: Rise in Star Ratings
The state also improved its performance in Garbage Free City (GFC) ratings:
In 2023, Uttar Pradesh had no 7-star cities, only 1 five-star city (Noida), and a total of 65 GFCs.
In contrast, SS 2024 witnessed Lucknow achieve 7-star status, while six cities—Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, and Noida—earned 5-star ratings.
Additionally, six cities were rated 3-star and 70 cities earned 1-star status, bringing the total number of GFCs to 83, an increase of 18 cities over the previous year.
Performance Across Population Categories
Million-Plus Cities
Uttar Pradesh’s larger urban centres performed well:
Lucknow ranked in the Top 3 nationally.
Lucknow and Agra featured in the Top 10, while six cities (including Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Kanpur, and Varanasi) made it to the Top 20 list.
Cities with 3–10 Lakh Population
Gorakhpur ranked in the Top 5, with Gorakhpur and Moradabad in the Top 10.
A total of seven cities made it to the Top 20 in this category, including Mathura, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Jhansi, and Bareilly.
Cities with 50,000 – 3 Lakh Population
This category saw limited representation, with Bijnor being the only city in the Top 30 (Rank 29), joined by Modinagar in the Top 40.
Cities with 20,000 – 50,000 Population
Anupshehar secured a spot in the Top 20 (Rank 13), while Sidhauli joined it in the Top 30.
Population Less Than 20,000
No Urban Local Body (ULB) from Uttar Pradesh featured in the Top 100 rankings for this category, indicating an area for improvement in smaller towns.
On Monday, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna informed that Lucknow has become the third cleanest city across the nation, according to recently released Swachh Survekshan 2024 rankings.
The UP minister said that the capital city improved its position by 41 points from its previous rank.
“In the central government’s ‘Swachhata Survekshan-2024’, the state capital Lucknow has set a record. In the released list, Lucknow district has jumped 41 points from the previous rank, securing the third position nationwide,” Khanna posed on X.
