Swachh Survekshan 2026: Indore banks on citizen feedback for top spot

Indore: Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is actively mobilizing residents to submit digital feedback for the ongoing Swachh Survekshan 2026. The initiative, conducted by Union ministry of housing and urban affairs, is crucial for Indore as it competes with cities like Surat and Navi Mumbai to retain its leading position in the exclusive ‘Super Swachh League.’According to the latest national ranking data, Indore is currently at second position across the country with 863,754 citizen feedback submissions. It closely trails Lucknow, which leads with 903,240 submissions. Other top-performing cities in the evaluation include Patna in third place (705,036 submissions), followed by Jabalpur (636,629) and Agra (570,668). Surat currently occupies the seventh position with 576,053 feedback submissions.Given the higher population base of competing metro areas, IMC officials highlighted that Indore leads significantly in terms of the total percentage of population participation.IMC commissioner Kshitij Singhal emphasized that citizen assessments regarding neighbourhood cleanliness are vital to securing the national crown.The survey assesses localized civic metrics including door-to-door garbage collection, waste segregation into wet and dry streams, regular street sweeping, and cleanliness of public markets, parks, and toilets. It also evaluates public awareness of the city’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRR) centres, utilization of licenced operators for septic tank cleaning, and IMC’s official turnaround time for resolving complaints.IMC additional commissioner Prakhar Singh told TOI that public participation has historically driven Indore’s success. To further expand its regional waste-management impact under the central ‘Swachh Sheher Jodi’ initiative, IMC has partnered with Depalpur urban local body to mentor and implement its specialized sanitation models in smaller neighbouring towns.Top Ten PerformersNational Rank City Total Citizen Feedback1 Lucknow 9,03,2402 Indore 8,63,7543 Patna 7,05,0364 Jabalpur 6,36,6295 Agra 5,70,6686 Rajkot 5,17,8747 Surat 5,76,0538 Bareilly 4,97,7789 Vadodara 4,63,79910 Ghaziabad 4,66,681