17-07-2025
Kerala municipalities improve rankings in national cleanliness survey, eight in top 100
Kerala's municipalities have made significant improvements in the Swachh Survekshan rankings for 2024 put out by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to rank the cleanest cities in the country.
As many as eight municipalities have secured ranks in the top 100 cleanest cities in the country. Last year, no municipality from the State featured on the top 100 list.
At the top of municipalities from the State was Kochi Corporation at rank 50 among all local bodies in the country. Kochi has made a giant leap, considering its last year's rank of 416 among cities and 1,815 overall.
The other municipalities from Kerala among the top 100 are Mattannur (rank 53), Thrissur Corporation (58), Kozhikode Corporation (70), Alappuzha municipality (80), Guruvayur municipality (82), Thiruvananthapuram Corporation (89) and Kollam (93).
A total of 82 municipalities from the State have made it to the top 1,000 ranks.
Mattannur municipality received a special national award for Promising Swachh City of a State. It climbed from rank 1,854 in 2023 to 53 nationally. In a first, 23 municipalities in Kerala have earned 'Garbage Free City' star ratings—with three receiving 3-star ratings (Alappuzha, Shoranur, Pattambi) and 20 earning 1-star ratings. Thiruvananthapuram Corporation achieved Water+ certification, and 77 municipalities received Open Defecation Free (ODF+) status. Kalpetta and two others were awarded the ODF++ certification.
Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh, in a statement in Delhi, said that the awards reflect the great strides made by Kerala in waste management through the Malinyamuktham Nava Keralam campaign which was implemented intensively by the State government after the Brahmapuram fire in 2023.
Kerala has become a model of cleanliness at the national level. He expressed hope that the national recognition will inspire all local bodies.
In addition to the LSGD and the Suchitwa Mission, the Haritha Keralam Mission, Kudumbashree, Clean Kerala Company Limited and Kerala Solid Waste Management Project also contributed their services to the State's improvement in the Swachh Survekshan ranking.
Mr. Rajesh, Mattannur Municipal Chairman N. Shajith, Additional Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar, Special Secretary T.V. Anupama, Executive Director of Suchitwa Mission U.V. Jose, and Joint Director Muhammad Huwais received the award for Mattannur municipality from Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar at a function held in New Delhi on Thursday.
