On this Republic Day, it is unfortunate to recall two recent catastrophic incidents of urban India. First the death of two dozen people due to the supply of contaminated water in Indore and second drowning of 27-year-old engineer in a swamp created by sewer water near an upmarket condominium in Noida, a suburb of the national Capital.
These incidents tell a terrible story because both Indore and Noida are considered to be providing civic security of highest order under a government ranking system. On October 1, 2021, the Union government launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, with the overall vision of creating “Garbage Free Cities” (GFC). For achieving this vision, a key objective under SBM-U 2.0 is to make every urban local body at least three-star garbage free as per the star rating protocol.
Under this scheme, the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) holds a seven-star rating, making it a certified GFC. Indore made history by becoming the first city in India to achieve this highest possible seven-star distinction in 2022, and it has consistently maintained this status through the latest assessment cycles (including the Swachh Survekshan 2024–25 awards conferred in July 2025).
However, the massive outbreak of waterborne disease this winter, triggered by contaminated municipal water, which led to the deaths of nearly two dozen people, including infants, raises a question mark on the rating system. The investigative post-mortem revealed a scenario that belongs in a dystopia, not a seven-star city.
A public toilet had been constructed directly above a leaking main drinking water pipeline. Because the toilet lacked a proper septic system, raw sewage seeped directly into the city’s “safe” drinking water supply. This was not a natural disaster, but a systemic failure of the highest order.
While the city was busy winning awards for visible cleanliness and waste segregation, the subterranean reality was that its aging, poorly monitored infrastructure was rotting. The tragedy suggests that Indore’s seven-star rating focussed on the aesthetics of the surface, while ignoring the reliability of the pipelines that keep its citizens alive.
Similarly, Noida currently holds a five-star rating as a GFC. While it has not yet reached the maximum seven-star status held by cities like Indore or Lucknow, Noida is recognised as one of the best-performing cities in its population category. It has maintained this status for three consecutive years, reflecting high standards in waste collection and processing. It is certified as Water+, the highest category in the open defecation free protocol. This means the city treats 100 per cent of its wastewater and ensures no untreated sewage enters drains or water bodies.
Ironically, a city certified as Water+ allowed a massive, toxic swamp of “sewer water” to exist in the heart of its most secure sector. The death of Yuvraj Mehta is a testament to a civic security that exists only in brochures. It highlights a culture where builders and authorities are more concerned with launching projects than securing them.
The juxtaposition of these tragedies with the SBM-U 2.0 ratings points toward a dangerous trend of urban local bodies becoming experts at managing the Swachh Survekshan surveys. Cities are cleaned up in a frenzy during the survey months, feedback is often manufactured through aggressive PR campaigns, and data points are adequately perked-upto meet the criteria of the star rating protocol.
The current system relies heavily on third-party audits that often capture a snapshot rather than the steady-state of a city’s health. The element of corruption adding to the fudging of reports too can be well understood.This scenario indicates that the vision of the prime minister of having best possible civic order in urban centres are being mollycoddled in the fakery of reports, rating, and awards.
A city cannot be called garbage free if its people are dying of faecal contamination in their taps. A city cannot be called Water+’ if its residents are drowning in stagnant sewer swamps near luxury condominiums. If we continue to ignore the rot beneath the star-studded surface, we are not building smart cities but Potemkin villages. It is time to demand that our cities be made safe first, and they can win awards later.