The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday questioned the credibility of the Swachhata Survey after the BJP-ruled Surat Municipal Corporation was once again ranked number one. Pointing out large-scale manipulation, AAP’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Ankush Narang, said Surat was awarded the top spot despite failing to process 100 percent of its garbage, a mandatory requirement for participation in the survey.
The MCD LoP said that when AAP councillors visited the city’s landfill site, they were initially denied entry and the municipal administration later set garbage on fire to conceal deficiencies. AAP has demanded a formal inquiry into what it called a “forged” cleanliness ranking.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters on Friday along with former MCD Mayors Shelly Oberoi and Mahesh Khichi, MCD LoP Ankush Narang said, “Whenever Swachhata Survey results are discussed in India, the BJP speaks of the Gujarat model and projects Gujarat as heaven on earth and the cleanest region in the country.”
The MCD LoP stated that the ground reality in Surat stands in sharp contrast to the claims being made. Despite this, he noted, the Surat Municipal Corporation was awarded the top rank in the Swachhata Survey and projected as having 100 percent door-to-door garbage collection and disposal. “This claim is completely false,” he said.
Ankush Narang continued, “The AAP made efforts in Delhi to eliminate all vulnerable points and bring the city into the top 10 rankings. Extensive efforts were made and 500 vulnerable points were identified and eliminated. But when the rankings were released, Gujarat’s Surat emerged at number one.”
He highlighted that when the ground reality of Surat was examined, huge garbage mountains were found there, even as BJP leaders claim 100 percent waste disposal. Recently, a fire broke out on one such garbage mound and it could be extinguished only after 60 hours. “If there is 100 percent waste disposal, then which garbage mound caught fire?,” he questioned.
The MCD LoP noted that agencies tasked with ensuring 100 percent waste disposal are indulging in corruption in collusion with the municipal corporation and BJP leaders. “There has been virtually no waste disposal in Surat for the past five years, even as the city has been repeatedly ranked number one in the Swachhata Survey during the same period,” he said.
Ankush Narang asserted that the AAP demands a re-evaluation of the rankings awarded to Surat Municipal Corporation over the last five years. “AAP will also send a letter to Surat Municipal Corporation, along with a covering letter enclosing the letter written by AAP councillors in Surat,” he said.
Showing photographs to the media, Ankush Narang said that the images clearly show fires burning on garbage mounds. “When Surat Municipal Corporation has not carried out 100 percent scientific waste disposal, it should not have been allowed to participate in the survey at all. Under what collusion did the BJP grant Surat Municipal Corporation the top cleanliness ranking?,” he strongly questioned.
“This must be investigated. In Gujarat, the BJP is continuously indulging in corruption in collusion with contractors, and this should be probed by vigilance and other agencies. Those responsible for corruption must be punished,” Ankush Narang stated.
Former MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi stated that large-scale manipulation is being carried out in Gujarat under the guise of the Swachhata Survey. “The Swachhata Survey is conducted every year by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to assess sanitation systems in cities across the country,” she added.
Shelly Oberoi pointed out that the survey is based on several parameters. “Municipal corporations from across the country submit their data to the ministry. This data is based on year-long door-to-door waste collection, source segregation, waste processing, and sanitation infrastructure. The data is verified, assessed, and evaluated, and based on a combined score, each city is ranked,” she highlighted.
Shelly Oberoi said that Surat Municipal Corporation was awarded the top rank in the Swachhata Survey in 2023, 2024, and 2025, prompting AAP councillors in Gujarat to write to the ministry conducting the survey and raise serious questions about the process. “AAP councillors went to inspect the Khajod disposal site in Gujarat. When officials realised that the councillors might expose the manipulation, they were not allowed to enter,” she said.
“Later, when councillors forcibly entered the site, they found that according to the Swachhata Survey guidelines, only those cities that process 100 percent of their solid waste are eligible to participate, yet 1.4 million metric tonnes of garbage were still lying there,” she stated.
The Former MCD Mayor questioned how Surat Municipal Corporation received a ranking when it failed to meet mandatory criteria. “Councillors have demanded re-verification of the data submitted by Surat Municipal Corporation by writing to the ministry. This is a way of misleading the public, and wherever the BJP is in power, data has been manipulated,” she said.
She continued that during the AAP government in Delhi, the objective was to make Delhi garbage-free. “The entire team, along with officials, inspected cleanliness in neighbourhoods and monitored waste disposal at garbage mounds. But wherever the BJP is in power, rankings are secured through manipulation,” she said.
The AAP appealed to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to re-assess, re-verify, and re-evaluate the data submitted by all municipal corporations. A transparent special team should be constituted to examine data from the past five years so that this manipulation is exposed before the public.
Former Mayor Mahesh Khichi stated that the BJP wants to project cities governed by its municipal corporations as number one through fraud and manipulation. “In Khajod, Surat, garbage mounds have accumulated over the past three years and have not been cleared at all,” he said.
Mahesh Khichi said that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure 100 percent waste disposal before awarding a city the top rank, but that this requirement has not been met in Surat. “Over the past three years, garbage has increased to such an extent that it has formed massive mounds,” he said.
He further stated, “Local AAP councillors in Gujarat protested and went to the landfill site, but were not allowed to enter. When councillors were stopped, the administration set garbage on fire to hide its shortcomings. The fire continued to burn for five days in an attempt to eliminate the garbage.”
Mahesh Khichi said that AAP councillors have repeatedly raised the issue, but their concerns have gone unheard. He stated that contractors were paid around ₹250 crore for waste disposal, yet the garbage remained uncleared.
He added, “In states where the BJP is in power, officials collude to manipulate data and project cities as number one. In contrast, during the AAP government in Delhi, around 500 garbage vulnerable points were identified and eliminated. Under the leadership of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, sustained efforts were made to reduce garbage mounds, and the AAP government brought them down by 50 percent.”
The former Mayor continued, “Just as the BJP has indulged in manipulation in other matters, it is again trying to project itself ahead through fraudulent means. Even today, manipulation is taking place in Delhi’s landfill sites, where garbage is being lifted and dumped in the Kirari and Mundka assembly constituencies, which the AAP strongly opposes.”
Mahesh Khichi demanded that the central government order an investigation into the manipulation behind Surat’s ranking. He said the city’s sewage system is in poor condition, with 20,000 to 25,000 complaints being received daily, and air quality levels frequently crossing an AQI of 300. Under such conditions, he said, awarding Surat a joint number one ranking with Indore is unjustified. “This manipulation must be stopped and the truth must be placed before the public,” he said.
