Swachh Survekshan 2024-25: A Catalyst for Urban Cleanliness and the Road Ahead
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Governance (Urban Governance, Swachh Bharat Mission, Swachh Survekshan), Environment (Solid Waste Management, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - RRR principle, Bioremediation).
Mains:
GS Paper 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation; Role of local government in development processes.
GS Paper 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; Infrastructure: Energy (Waste-to-energy); Inclusive growth (role of ragpickers, Self-Help Groups).
Key Highlights from the News
Swachh Survekshan 2024-25, described as the world's largest cleanliness survey, helps understand the realities of urban sanitation.
This year, a new category called 'Super Swachh League' was introduced, including cities that consistently achieve high ranks, such as Indore, Surat, and Navi Mumbai.
This change provided an opportunity for new cities like Ahmedabad, Bhopal, and Lucknow to reach the top three positions in the category of cities with over 10 lakh population.
The theme of this year's survey is 'Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (RRR).'
There are several best practices that emerged from the survey: Indore, which segregates waste into six categories at the source; Surat, which generates revenue by selling treated wastewater; and Visakhapatnam, which transformed a landfill into an eco-park, are examples.
However, the concept of waste to wealth has not been fully realized. The private sector has concerns about the financial viability of waste management projects.
While an attitude against open defecation has been created, a similar behavioral change movement against littering and excessive consumption has not been achieved.
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) need to show greater efficiency in implementing waste segregation, collection, and processing.
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