Awards

Swachh Survekshan 2020

Under the flagship of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) conducts an annual cleanliness survey, Swachh Survekshan, among more than 4200 cities participating across the nation. The ranking of cities is done based on parameters linked to collection of segregated waste and maintenance till processing site, treatment and reuse of wastewater, curtailing solid waste-based air pollution, among other factors.

In Swachh Survekshan 2020, Gandhinagar city gained exceptional strides to the 8^th rank (category of cleanest cities under 10 lakh population) across the nation, from 22^nd Rank in 2019. The rankings for Swachh Survekshan 2020 were announced after a thorough assessment conducted in three quarters and a ground check by the assessment team in the month of January 2020.

As part of Swachh Survekshan 2020, Gandhinagar city has also been awarded as the Best State Capital in ‘Innovation and Best Practices’ for its initiatives in ‘Plastic waste management’.  Under the Plastic-Free Gandhinagar Initiative, GMC has appointed a private agency on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Basis for collection of plastic waste from the various waste generators, Material Recovery Facility, Public and Social Events and from informal waste pickers. In addition, GMC initiated a process of streamlining the informal sector and creating a sustainable ecosystem wherein informal waste pickers can collaborate with the private agency appointed by GMC to efficiently manage the plastic waste in Gandhinagar city.

GMC organised public awareness events such as the Plogging events to achieve Litter Free Gandhinagar with the support of Earthkids Foundation on weekly basis at several locations in the city, which helped consolidate the win further. Plogging events involve collection (picking) of waste material while jogging. In addition to these initiatives, GMC has also installed ‘Sauni Diwal’ (also known as “Neki ki Diwar”) in all the wards of the city. This concept seeks to encourage people to donate miscellaneous useful things at a designated spot to support the underprivileged and ones in need.  This act gives thrust to the application of 3R principles of ‘Reduce, Re-use & Re-cycle’ through reusing of items donated by the people thereby reducing the waste going to the landfill.

Furthermore, Gandhinagar city is also a proud recipient of “3 Star” rating in Garbage Free City (GFC) assessment announced by MoHUA in Swachh Survekshan 2020. The star rating conditions are based on 25 key parameters across the solid waste management spectrum and has been designed to both help cities assess their progress while encouraging them to move towards a better rating thereby improving their overall cleanliness and aesthetics.

Gandhinagar city was also declared as “ODF++” in Open Defecation Free (ODF) City assessment during Swachh Survekshan 2020, which focuses on achieving sanitation sustainability by addressing complete sanitation value chain, including safe and complete fecal sludge management.