Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities | Swacch Bharat Mission Urban (SBM-U)

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) of Central government has announced the results of Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities. For the assessment year 2019-2020, a total of 6 cities have been rated 5 Star, 65 Cities as 3 Star and 70 Cities as 1 Star under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban (SBM-U). While announcing results on 19 May 2020, Hardeep Singh Puri also launched the revised protocol for the Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities.

It is different from Swachh Survekshan (SS) as it was only a ranking system and several of our cities, despite doing exceptionally well, were not being recognized appropriately. Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities is a comprehensive framework where each ward in every city must achieve a certain standard across 24 different components of solid waste management (SWM) and is graded based on overall marks received.

The Star Rating Protocol was launched by MoHUA on 20 January 2018 to institutionalize a mechanism for cities to achieve Garbage Free status. It also motivates the cities to achieve higher degree of cleanliness. SBM Urban has played an important role in achieving cleanliness and sanitation which provides benefits to Indians in their fight with COVID-19.

SBM Urban Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities

Here is the complete Star Rating List of Garbage Free Cities 2020 under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban:-

The performance of cities under the Star Rating Protocol also carries significant weightage in final assessment in Swachh Survekshan.

Star Rating Protocol vs Swachh Survekshan

To ensure that the Star Rating Protocol has a SMART framework, govt. has developed a 3 stage assessment process:-

First Stage – Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) populate their progress data on the portal along with supporting documents within a particular time-frame.

Second Stage – It involves a desktop assessment by a third-party agency selected and appointed by MoHUA.

Third Stage – Claims of cities that clear the desktop assessment are then verified through independent field level observations.

Star Rating Protocol has been devised in a holistic manner including components such as cleanliness of drains & water bodies, plastic waste management, managing construction & demolition waste among others. These are critical to achieve garbage free cities. The main focus is on solid waste management (SWM) as it also takes care of ensuring certain minimum standards of sanitation through a set of pre-conditions defined in the framework. However, Swachh Survekshan is a broader concept and includes Star Rating Protocol as well.

Very happy to announce the results of Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities.

The Star Rating Protocol was launched in 2018 to institutionalize a mechanism for cities to achieve Garbage Free status & achieve higher degrees of cleanliness. @PMOIndia @PIB_India @SwachhBharatGov pic.twitter.com/jRCLiLRf9b

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 19, 2020

The new Star Rating Protocol will consider ward-wise geo-mapping, monitoring of SWM value chain through ICT interventions like Swachh Nagar App and zone-wise rating in cities with population of 50 lakh+. Govt. vision is to ensure holistic and sustainable sanitation across urban India. It involves effective faecal sludge management through safe containment, transportation, disposal and processing along with 100% wastewater treatment in cities before discharging into water bodies and their maximum possible reuse.

The govt. also intend to achieve 100% scientific and resource efficient solid waste management (SWM) based on 3R and circular economy. The govt. is also focusing on bioremediation of all dumpsites, single use plastic free India and efficient construction and demolition waste management. This will pave the way for a “Swachh”, “Swasth”, “Shashakt” and “Sampann” AtmaNirbhar New India.