Raipur. Chhattisgarh has delivered an impressive performance in the Government of India’s Swachh Survekshan 2024–25. Out of the 169 urban bodies from the state that participated in the survey, 115 cities have significantly improved their rankings. Among 4,566 cities assessed nationwide, 25 cities from Chhattisgarh made it to the top 100 — a notable rise from just 16 last year.
The state has also shown strong progress in the Garbage-Free City (GFC) star rating system. A total of 62 cities have upgraded their ratings this year. Notably, the state capital Raipur has advanced from a five-star to the highest seven-star rating. It has also been declared a Water Plus city for its achievements in sanitation and liquid waste management.
Three major municipal corporations — Bilaspur, Korba, and Bhilai Nagar — have moved from the ODF Plus Plus category to the Water Plus category. A total of 163 urban bodies across the state now hold the ODF Plus Plus status. This includes smaller municipalities like Kiranadul, Bhatapara, and Kunra, which were previously in the basic ODF category. Sitapur Nagar Panchayat has also progressed from ODF Plus to ODF Plus Plus.
Over the last 18 months, 62 cities have improved their GFC star ratings. Bilaspur and Ambikapur upgraded from three stars to five stars. Cities like Bhilai Nagar, Jagdalpur, Jamul, and Gharghoda moved from single star to three stars. New entrants like Dhamtari, Shivrinarayan, and Rajpur, which had no rating earlier, have directly achieved three-star status. Moreover, 52 cities that had no star rating earlier have now earned single-star recognition for their continuous efforts in sanitation and beautification.
Several urban bodies saw remarkable improvements in their national rankings. For instance, Simga jumped from 649th to 95th position, Jashpur from 637th to 91st, Rajpur from 630th to 63rd, and Gharghoda from 616th to 71st. Bhilai-Charoda improved from 587th to 68th, Dantewada from 552nd to 70th, Jagdalpur from 461st to 55th, Mungeli from 447th to 86th, Kawardha from 430th to 77th, Durg from 314th to 80th, and Rajnandgaon from 268th to 46th. Most notably, Raipur climbed from 12th position to 4th rank in the country.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai attributed this success to the collective efforts of urban local bodies and the active participation of citizens. He said that the state government, in coordination with urban administrations and the central government, is consistently working to make cities cleaner and more beautiful through innovation and collaboration. He expressed confidence that Chhattisgarh’s rankings will continue to improve in the coming years.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Urban Administration and Development Arun Sao praised the top-performing urban bodies and stated that the state government had allocated ₹7,400 crore for urban development and cleanliness in FY 2024–25. He added that all Municipal Commissioners and Chief Municipal Officers were instructed to conduct early morning inspections to ensure proper monitoring of daily sanitation activities. These initiatives, he said, played a vital role in the state’s strong performance in the latest cleanliness survey.
