Jabalpur has achieved second position in the country among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh in the Swachh Survekshan 2026. President Droupadi Murmu presented the national award to the city at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday. Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh, former Municipal Commissioner Ram Prakash Ahirwar and present Municipal Commissioner Agrim Kumar received the award on behalf of the city. Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav congratulated the Mayor and the two Municipal Commissioners on the achievement. Jabalpur has made a major improvement in its cleanliness ranking over the past few years.

 

The city was ranked 22nd earlier. It moved to 13th position, then fifth and has now reached the second position. The achievement is the result of several initiatives taken by the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC). These include better waste management, regular cleaning, night sweeping and public participation. The Waste-to-Energy plant, which started operations in November-December 2025, has played an important role. Around 3.5 lakh tonnes of waste was processed in January, February and March 2026. The Municipal Corporation also cleared old waste dumps and made around 17 acres of land free from garbage.

 

The Corporation has also set up Three-R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) centres. Book banks, toy banks and clothes banks have been started to encourage the reuse of useful items. Regular monitoring of sanitation work, road and drain cleaning, action against littering and a drive against single-use plastic were other key steps. Night sweeping was also strengthened to keep major roads and busy areas clean. The Mayor said the award is the result of the collective efforts of citizens, sanitation workers, public representatives and JMC officials. He thanked everyone for their contribution and said the next target was to make Jabalpur the cleanest city in the country.