Three cheers for Lucknow amid challenges

State capital secures the third rank among the cleanest cities in the country in million-plus population category in Swachh Shahar Awards 2024-25 under Swachh Survekshan but the civic body still needs to focus on key issues and a host of persistent problems

- HT Correspondent

The state capital has secured the third rank among the cleanest cities in the country in the million-plus population category in the Swachh Shahar Awards 2024-25 under the Swachh Survekshan, trailing Ahmedabad and Bhopal, which bagged the first and second positions respectively.

Even though Lucknow has achieved the third rank in a new category (there was only one category earlier), the Lucknow Municipal Corporation still needs to focus on key issues such as open dumping of waste, absence and malfunctioning of streetlights, irregular door-to-door waste collection, and other persistent problems troubling residents. The delayed redressal of complaints also remains a major concern for the people of the state capital.

President Droupadi Murmu honoured the city during a ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on Thursday. Several projects were cited as key to the city's achievement, including streamlining waste segregation at source to digitizing garbage collection vehicles and expanding composting and recycling infrastruc