Shillong, July 17: Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong, has emerged as the cleanest urban local body (ULB) in the state for the year 2024-25, according to the latest Swachh Survekshan report released today. However, the city ranked a modest 763rd at the national level, while Nongstoin came in last among the state’s ULBs, positioned at 1581st nationwide.
The results were announced at a national ceremony in New Delhi, where President Droupadi Murmu presented the Swachh Survekshan Awards, organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Highlighting the success of the nationwide initiative, the President said the survey has been instrumental in evaluating and motivating urban efforts toward cleanliness. She lauded the scale of participation—approximately 14 crore citizens, alongside active involvement from state governments and municipal bodies—making Swachh Survekshan the world’s largest cleanliness survey.
According to the Shillong City Report Card, the capital scored 100% for cleanliness n residential areas, market zones, and water bodies—indicating strong civic engagement and consistent municipal upkeep. It also recorded 96% remediation of legacy dumpsites.
However, critical gaps remain in waste infrastructure:
- Only 62% of waste is collected door-to-door
- Just 16% is source-segregated
- A mere 2% of waste is processed
- Public toilets were flagged for lack of cleanliness
Despite these shortcomings, Shillong was recognized as a “Promising Swachh Shehar” under a new category introduced this year. Following the “One City, One Award” principle, top-performing cities from each state were given this distinction—34 cities nationwide earned the tag, signaling notable improvements in cleanliness and sanitation.
Among Meghalaya’s medium-sized cities (population between 50,000 and 3 lakhs), only Shillong and Tura were assessed. Tura ranked 767th, just behind Shillong, despite reporting lower figures in source segregation (1%) and waste processing (0%).
Several smaller towns fared significantly worse:
- Jowai ranked 1506th, despite leading the state with a 63% waste processing rate
- Williamnagar and Shillong Cantonment ranked 1542 and 1952, respectively
The bottom three were Mairang (1997), Baghmara (2001), and Nongstoin (1581), all of which reported 0% waste processing and negligible segregation.
Notably, none of the ULBs in Meghalaya qualified for a “Star Rating” under the Garbage-Free Cities (GFC) framework.
 in the state for the year 2024-25, according to the latest Swachh Survekshan report released today. However, the city ranked a modest 763rd at the national level, while Nongstoin came in last among the state’s ULBs, positioned at 1581st nationwide.){kind=link}