WHERE OTHER TOWNS OF HIMACHAL HAVE GONE?
SHIMLA: Theog is the only Himachal town to figure in the national awardee list under Swachh Survekshan 2025-26, exposing the limited spread of cleanliness achievements across the state's more than 65 urban local bodies. While the state government has projected the Municipal Council's recognition as a major achievement, the absence of other towns from the awardee list raises questions about the performance of municipal corporations, councils and nagar panchayats in improving sanitation and solid waste management.
Theog has secured a place among the country's Top 20 urban local bodies, according to the state government's press note issued on November 7. However, the accompanying Annexure-II identifies Theog as Himachal Pradesh's awardee. The recognition is significant for the small hill town, but it also highlights the challenge before the state government of extending similar standards of cleanliness across its urban centres.
The 10th edition of Swachh Survekshan, conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, seeks to assess cleanliness, sanitation, solid waste management and citizen participation. Launched on December 20, 2025, under the theme 'Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel – Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath', the 2025-26 assessment places greater emphasis on year-round citizen feedback, field inspections and digital verification.
The survey framework covers critical municipal functions, including door-to-door waste collection, segregation at source, transportation, scientific processing and disposal of waste, remediation of legacy dumpsites, wastewater management and public participation. The exercise is intended to measure actual service delivery rather than rely merely on cleanliness campaigns and official claims.
For Himachal Pradesh, the results assume importance because urban local bodies face difficult geographical conditions, limited land availability, high transportation costs and additional waste generation during tourist seasons. These challenges are particularly pronounced in hill towns where unscientific disposal and inadequate waste-processing infrastructure can have serious environmental consequences.
Shimla, Solan, Dharamshala, Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una are among the major urban centres whose municipal administrations face the continuing challenge of improving sanitation and waste management. The absence of wider representation in the state's awardee list calls for a closer examination of their performance against the survey's assessment parameters.
The state government has attributed Theog's achievement to coordinated efforts by the Urban Development Department, Directorate of Urban Development, municipal authorities, sanitation workers and citizens under the guidance of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh.
However, the recognition also raises questions about whether the cleanliness initiatives and monitoring mechanisms adopted by the government have translated into measurable improvements across the state's municipal jurisdictions. The government needs to place ward-wise data on waste segregation, collection efficiency, processing capacity, scientific disposal and sanitation infrastructure in the public domain to establish where other urban local bodies stand.
Theog's recognition may have brought Himachal Pradesh into the national spotlight, but one town's achievement cannot be treated as a measure of cleanliness across the state. The real test lies in improving the performance of all urban local bodies rather than allowing the distinction of a single town to overshadow the larger sanitation challenge.
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