Manesar Best, Rohtak Worst in Clean City Survey: Technical Loophole Raises Questions

A controversial result in Haryana's latest Swachh City Survey has declared Manesar Municipal Corporation (MCM) the cleanest among 87 civic bodies in the state, despite significant evidence suggesting the industrial town achieved this ranking through a technical oversight rather than genuine cleanliness achievements.

The result has sparked confusion among residents of both Gurugram and Manesar, particularly as the latter continues to struggle with visible sanitation challenges. From garbage on streets to continuous illegal dumping of construction and demolition waste, local residents argue that the on-ground reality contradicts the survey's findings. 

Conducted between January 1 and March 10, the Swachh City Survey evaluated municipal performance based on complaint management through the centralized Swachh City Portal administered by the Urban Local Bodies Ministry. According to official data, Manesar recorded zero unresolved complaints—a perfect score that officials initially celebrated.

However, a senior Urban Local Bodies department official, speaking anonymously to The Tribune, revealed the underlying issue: "Manesar is the youngest corporation and has not yet completed ward delimitation. During the survey period, it wasn't even fully registered on the complaint portal. So even if residents tried to upload complaints, the system wouldn't accept them." 

This technical loophole effectively prevented citizens from registering complaints on the official platform—the very metric used to determine cleanliness rankings. Even now, despite being registered on the portal, residents report continued difficulties with submitting complaints, raising significant concerns about the transparency and validity of the evaluation process. 

Local citizen groups and Resident Welfare Associations have shared photographic evidence on social media to highlight the discrepancy of the survey and showing overflowing garbage bins, construction waste dumps, and what they describe as a "mini landfill" developing in the IMT area, allegedly due to inadequate waste management by contractors. 

"The rankings are surprising as Manesar is anything but clean. Be it streets, roundabouts or villages—garbage is spread everywhere, and sweeping is a luxury. We have regularly raised the sanitation crisis with Corporation officials. They know the truth—so why celebrate this?" questioned a representative of the United Association of New Gurugram, an umbrella organization representing multiple RWAs. 

Meanwhile, Gurugram—one of Haryana's largest and most developed urban centers—ranked only 10th despite having significantly better civic infrastructure, with 1,039 complaints recorded during the survey period. 

Across Haryana, the survey logged 5,883 complaints in total. Following Manesar's contentious zero-complaint record, Yamunanagar secured second place with 108 complaints, followed by Ambala (158), Hisar (190), Karnal (229), and Sonepat (233). At the bottom of the rankings among the 11 municipal corporations was Rohtak, which registered 1,091 complaints.

Responding to concerns about the survey, Urban Local Bodies Minister Vipul Goel stated: "Complaint redressal is a top priority and we are closely monitoring all civic agencies. Residents should have proper access to grievance redressal—it is their right. We will look into the working of those who have not fared well and take action."