Swachh Survekshan 2025-26! Ujjain Crowned India's Cleanest City In 3–10 Lakh Population Category For Second Consecutive Year

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Ujjain has secured first place nationally in the category of cities with a population of 3 lakh to 10 lakh under Swachh Survekshan 2025-26. The city received the national award from President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony held in Delhi on Wednesday.

Mayor Mukesh Tatwal, speaker Kalavati Yadav and commissioner Abhilash Mishra received the award. With 100% waste collection, electricity generation from waste and innovative waste-to-wealth initiatives, Ujjain secured the top ranking in its population category.

The city received award for the second consecutive year, having also won in 2025. It had previously received the honour in 2019.

Ujjain lags behind in mentorship initiative: Ujjain has, however, performed poorly in the mentorship initiative introduced last year to encourage smaller cities to improve their sanitation rankings.

Ujjain Municipal Corporation was assigned to mentor Unhel Nagar Parishad, but Unhel has failed to make progress in cleanliness.

Waste-to-wealth initiatives power Ujjain's cleanliness success

- Key initiatives behind the achievement:

- Door-to-door waste collection: Ujjain Municipal Corporation ensures 100% door-to-door waste collection across all 54 wards using 96 collection vehicles.

- Four-category waste segregation: Waste is segregated into four categories: dry, wet, sanitary and domestic hazardous waste.

- Continuous monitoring: A dedicated team of 156 Information, Education and Communication (IEC) members continuously monitors waste collection and management activities.

- Legacy waste remediation: The civic body is undertaking complete remediation of accumulated legacy waste at the Gondia trenching ground and MR-5 site.

- Daily waste processing: Freshly collected waste is processed every day, while a garden has also been developed at the site.

- Temple waste recycling: Floral offerings and other religious waste collected from temples are converted into incense sticks, 'dhoop' sticks and 'gulal'.

- Electricity from waste: Electricity is being generated at the methanation plant located at MR-5 with the help of bulk waste generators.

- Three sanitation rounds daily: Cleaning activities are carried out three times a day across all 54 wards to maintain cleanliness.

- Recycling discarded clothes: Clothes left behind at river ghats are collected and recycled to manufacture paper bags and file covers.

- Three new waste-to-fuel initiatives: This year, the municipal corporation has introduced three major initiatives to convert waste into valuable resources. Plants are being established to produce fuel from discarded footwear, coconut waste and organic residues.

- CBG plant at Ghattiya: A compressed biogas (CBG) plant is nearing completion at Ghattiya. The plant will supply CBG to industries.

- Special festival sanitation drives: The municipal corporation conducts special cleanliness campaigns during festivals and celebrations, ensuring immediate cleaning arrangements during Holi and Diwali.

- Kshipra river protection: A 25-member committee has been constituted to keep the Kshipra river free from pollution. The committee actively discourages people from disposing of religious offerings and other waste into the river.

'Safai Mitras' resume duties immediately after celebrations

To celebrate securing the national cleanliness award, the Ujjain Municipal Corporation organised a programme at its headquarters. The award ceremony in Delhi was telecast live at the council hall from 4 pm.

Thereafter, public representatives, municipal officials and sanitation workers celebrated the achievement with drumbeats, exchanged congratulations and distributed sweets.

Sanitation workers, whose efforts played an important role in keeping the city clean, were specially felicitated. Public representatives and municipal officials honoured them with sweets and garlands.

The corporation described the award as recognition of the collective efforts, dedication and hard work of Ujjain's residents, sanitation workers and municipal employees.

The celebrations also highlighted the commitment of sanitation workers. As soon as the programme concluded, they took charge of cleaning the municipal headquarters premises.

They collected the waste generated during the celebrations, including debris from fireworks, and restored cleanliness without delay.

CM honours outstanding performers

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav honoured nine cities of Madhya Pradesh for their outstanding performance at the national level in Swachh Survekshan 2025-26.

Addressing the gathering, he described sanitation workers as the backbone of the cleanliness campaign, acknowledging their dedicated services throughout winter, summer and monsoon.