BHUBANESWAR: Taking a giant leap, capital city Bhubaneswar has secured 9th position among 95 cleanest big cities in the country while Aska has been rated the cleanest urban area of the state, in the latest Swachh Survekshan ranking 2024-25 released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Thursday.
The performance of the urban local bodies (ULBs) has helped Odisha secure three awards at the national stage with Aska and Chikiti being adjudged Presidential Awardees.
As per the cleanliness ranking, the state capital with an overall score of 10,772 out of 12,500, was placed at 9th rank, up from 34 in 2023, among the big cities having a population in the range of 3-10 lakh. In 2022, Bhubaneswar stood at rank 80.
The performance of Bhubaneswar on improved waste management and cleanliness fetched the Ministerial Award (state-level) and the ‘Promising Swachh Shehar’ tag for the city at the Swachh Survekshan Awards function held on the day in New Delhi. The smart city was also ranked second-most cleanest after Aska in the state in this year’s ranking. As per the report card, Bhubaneswar achieved door-to-door garbage collection of 97 per cent, while it managed to process 98 pc of the waste generated in a day. The city also achieved 100 per cent cleanliness of residential areas, market areas and water bodies.
Lauding the department authorities and ULBs for their achievement, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said, “The national recognition of Aska, Chikiti and Bhubaneswar is a testament to the Housing and Urban Development department’s relentless efforts, effective leadership and community-driven approach towards urban cleanliness.” Majhi also thanked all the sanitation workers and citizens for making this possible and urged people to work together to build a ‘Swachha and Samruddha Odisha’.
Apart from the state capital, Rourkela, Cuttack and Berhampur also improved their ranks and figured among the 95 top big cities with a population of less than 10 lakh, in the Swachhata ranking. Rourkela ranked 15, while Cuttack ranked 30 and Berhampur 75 in the national survey in 2024-25. In 2023, Rourkela was at the 119th position while Cuttack’s rank was over 70. Berhampur too, had been ranked 111.
On the other hand, the Aska ULB in Ganjam stood at the top in the state in terms of cleanliness, while it also achieved second position among the small cities having a population of 20,000 to 50,000, in the cleanliness ranking. The Aska ULB, along with Chikiti, that achieved rank 3 at the state-level and 9th among very small cities having a population of less than 20,000 at the national-level, received the Presidential Awards for their cleanliness efforts and were felicitated by President Droupadi Murmu on the national stage.
Housing and Urban Development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, mayor Sulochana Das, H&UD secretary Usha Padhee and BMC commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil along with other ULB representatives received the award from the President and MoHUA.
The cleanliness report suggested that the average door-to-door collection rate of all 115 ULBs in the state this year remained 68.6 pc, while the source segregation was found to be 87.1 pc. The average waste processing rate of the ULBs in the state has also been about 86.5 pc.
A total of 11 cities and towns including Bhubaneswar in the state have received 3-star rating in the Garbage Free City (GFC) assessment, while another 19 cities have obtained 1 star in the GFC rating.
Clean Progress
Bhubaneswar 9th best among cities with 3-10 lakh population
Aska cleanest among all in Odisha
Rourkela ranked 15, Cuttack 30 and Berhampur 75 in big cities category
Chikiti 2nd best very smallest city in cleanliness