Ghaziabad: The city has topped the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 rankings in the million-plus city category, pushing Lucknow and Agra to the second and third positions, respectively. The rankings were announced on Wednesday.In last year’s survey, Lucknow and Agra secured the first and second positions, respectively, while Ghaziabad stood third.In the all-India rankings, Ghaziabad secured the 11th position last year, improving significantly from 38th in 2024.Municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik, who received the award from President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on Wednesday, said, “It was a momentous occasion for Ghaziabad when I, along with mayor Sunita Dayal, jointly received the award from the President of India. We improved our ranking in the state from third last year to first this year.”He added that the detailed national rankings, including the marks obtained under different parameters, were yet to be released and were expected by Thursday.Ghaziabad generates more than 1,400 metric tonnes of municipal waste every day. An average household generates between 350g and 400g of waste daily, comprising both dry and wet waste. To promote source segregation, GMC had asked resident welfare associations to register domestic workers employed in households as part of an initiative to improve waste management.In the past year, the civic body has strengthened its door-to-door garbage collection system by deploying 313 CNG-powered vehicles, each with a waste-carrying capacity of 2.2 cubic metres. It also introduced a mobile app that alerts residents minutes before garbage collection vehicles reach their society gates. However, these measures have not been enough to resolve the persistent problem of source segregation.
