PANAJI
Goa’s capital city Panaji has secured third place in the 20,000–50,000 population category in the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 rankings announced on Wednesday. Vita in Maharashtra topped the category, followed by Aska in Odisha.
The award was presented by President Droupadi Murmu at a function held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. Representing the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), Mayor Rohit Monserrate received the award in the presence of CCP Commissioner Clen Madeira and Urban Development Secretary Yatindra Maralkar, IAS.
The recognition places Panaji among the country’s top-performing small cities in urban cleanliness, sanitation and waste management. The ranking reflects sustained efforts of the CCP to strengthen door-to-door waste collection, segregation at source and improve scientific processing of municipal waste.
CCP officials described the achievement as a result of consistent teamwork between civic authorities, sanitation workers and residents.
Mayor Monserrate said the award was a matter of pride for Panaji and a testament to the collective commitment towards keeping the city clean and green.
He credited sanitation workers, councillors and citizens for their contribution to the accomplishment, while officials said that the city's successful waste collection and disposal mechanisms will continue to improve.
Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai topped the list of the cleanest cities, followed by Surat and Vijayawada, in the Central government’s annual cleanliness survey, according to PTI.
Madhya Pradesh's Rewa was declared the cleanest riverfront town and Uttarakhand's Rudrapur emerged as the cleanest Himalayan city.
In the 10 lakh-plus population category, Greater Visakhapatnam emerged as the cleanest city, followed by Jabalpur and Lucknow.
Among cities with a population of 3-10 lakh, Ujjain topped the cleanliness rankings, with Chandigarh and Guntur securing the second and third positions, respectively.
This year, Indore, which had been ranked the cleanest city for the past eight consecutive years, was placed in a different category, securing the second position in the Mentor City category along with its partner town, Depalpur, under the newly introduced 'Swachh Shehar Jodi' initiative.
In this category, Ahmedabad secured the top position along with its partner town Sanand, while Tirupati bagged the third spot with its partner Kuppam.
Over 4,700 urban local bodies participated in the survey.
Madhya Pradesh's Rewa topped the list of cleanest riverfront towns, followed by Bilaspur and Varanasi in second and third positions, respectively.
According to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry, in the Swachh Coastal Town category, Puri bagged the first position, followed by Kerala's Alappuzha and Maharashtra's Ratnagiri.
Rudrapur emerged as the cleanest Himalayan city, while Jammu secured the second position and Shopian third in this category in the Centre's annual cleanliness survey.
In the 50,000-3 lakh population category, Madhya Pradesh's Dewas and Sagar emerged as the cleanest and third-cleanest cities, respectively, while the New Delhi Municipal Council held the second spot.
