The clean sweep that missed a few corners

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

Chandigarh has once again stepped into the national spotlight—ranked second in the Swachh Survekshan 2025, India's cleanliness survey. It's a civic milestone, the result of sustained public engagement, infrastructure investment and a visible sense of order. The parks are well-swept, bins freshly painted and awareness hoardings in place. Aesthetically, the city holds its own. For the region to truly thrive, a metropolitan-scale solution is needed—coordinated infrastructure, cross-border waste strategies, and shared accountability. After all, garbage doesn't stop at sector boundaries. (HT File Photo)
The mood, understandably, is celebratory—cue the dhol, the civic pride posts and the Instagram reels. But beneath the surface, urban cleanliness remains a complex, evolving system—dependent on behaviour, consistency and coordination.
While the rankings applaud structured effort, they often miss the everyday friction: irregular waste pickups, confused segregation practices and patchy implementation in less-visible corners of the city. Celebrating progress is important. But in a city growing in complexity, what does it really take to stay clean?
The two-bin gap
One of Chandigarh's most consistent messages to citizens has been the importance of waste segregation at source. Posters, workshops, and school programmes have all underlined the same principle—wet and dry waste must be separated. Yet in many households, the practice remains inconsistent.
Part of this stems from habit, but another part lies in mixed signals. In several sectors, waste collectors still empty both bins into the same compartment. When this happens, the chain of segregation breaks not at the source, but midway. Understandably, residents feel disillusioned. Why follow instructions when the system doesn't?
Further along the waste journey is Dadumajra, the city's long-standing landfill. The administration recently claimed success in the bioremediation of legacy waste, and satellite images do show a reduction in mound size. This is no small feat. But residents living nearby still speak of foul air, frequent flies and lingering leachate. Even as older waste is processed, newer waste continues to arrive.
We are moving forward—but in parts. Systems need to be synchronised so that good habits are reinforced by good processes. The intention is there. What's needed now is consistency.
A shared region, uneven outcomes
Chandigarh's urban experience doesn't exist in isolation. The Tricity—comprising Panchkula and Mohali alongside Chandigarh—functions as a shared ecosystem, with people commuting, relocating, and interacting across borders daily.
Panchkula has quietly risen in the ranks, now placed at 48. The city has strengthened its door-to-door waste collection and introduced small-scale composting units in some wards. However, challenges remain—especially in the peri-urban areas where infrastructure is still catching up.
Mohali, by contrast, is grappling with the pace of its own growth. Rapid urbanisation, jurisdictional overlaps between the municipal council and GMADA, and an under-capacity waste processing plant have led to visible gaps. The city didn't make the top 100, a reminder that policy must keep pace with population.
For the region to truly thrive, a metropolitan-scale solution is needed—coordinated infrastructure, cross-border waste strategies, and shared accountability. After all, garbage doesn't stop at sector boundaries.
Beyond the rankings
Chandigarh has always been a city of careful planning and civic pride. Its rank this year is not accidental—it reflects years of groundwork, citizen participation, and administrative intent. Public spaces are cleaner. Monitoring systems are more robust. And conversations about cleanliness are no longer rare.
But rankings are not the final destination, they are signposts. The city's next challenge is not only to maintain this reputation but to deepen it. That means ensuring that segregation is respected all the way to the landfill. That citizen effort is matched by systemic clarity. And that policy decisions prioritise lived experience, not just visible outcomes.
The cleanest cities aren't just tidy—they are resilient, inclusive and unafraid to address what still lies beneath.
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(The writer is a Chandigarh-based architect & interior designer)