Karnal, July 19 -- Indore's dustbin-free city model, night-time cleaning of commercial zones, and the open defecation-free (ODF) Water+ tag have helped Karnal achieve third place in the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 rankings, announced on Thursday. The Karnal municipalcorporation secured third rank in the "Swachh Shehar" category for cities with a population between 50,000 and 3 lakh, behind Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) and Karhad (Maharashtra). Out of 820 cities evaluated in this category in the country, Karnal emerged as the top-ranked city in Haryana among 88 urban local bodies (ULBs) in Haryana. This year's rankings introduced a new category-Super Swachh League (SSL)-which included Indore, a city that held the top spot in this population category for seven consecutive years and served as a national model for cleanliness. Karnal's implementation of Indore's dustbin-free model played a key role in earning a three-star rating under the Garbage-Free City (GFC) status-one of the core parameters of the survey. Notably, in the 2023-24 survey, Karnal had received zero stars for GFC and ranked 115th in the 1 lakh to 3 lakh population category. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Karnal mayor Renu Bala Gupta explained, "The dustbin-free model ensured that there were no visible garbage dumping sites in the city, which earlier created a poor impression. Garbage used to accumulate near bins or get scattered by stray animals despite regular collection. This time, we have achieved 98% door-to-door waste collection-up from 92.5% last year. Some households still prefer private collectors for convenience, but we aim to bring them into our net this year." Karnal municipalcorporation sanitary inspector Mandeep Singh elaborated that the civic body had eliminated the practice of creating localized dumping sites in residential or commercial areas. "Previously, garbage from various sources would pile up at these local sites before being moved to the solid-waste management plant. Now, with an expanded door-to-door collection network, waste is directly transported to the plant. We have also installed litter bins at commercial locations, but the bulk of the market waste is collected either by door-to-door vehicles or during night sweeping," he said. According to the mayor, these measures have significantly transformed the city's appearance and contributed to the improved ranking. "But I still appeal to the public to promote segregation of waste at source. This will not only save our staff time but also support our union minister Manohar Lal Khattar's vision of turning 'waste into wealth'. Segregation helps us compost wet waste and recycle dry waste effectively," she added....