False claims about sanitation infrastructure and their usage to improve rankings in the Swachhta index will cost municipal bodies dear.

If they are found to have misrepresented data on parameters such as number of toilets constructed and processing of waste, they stand not only to lose points, but could also get negative marks during the ranking of cities in the next Swachhta survey scheduled for January, 2018.

The new ranking of cities will be decided based on citizens feedback and independent observation of sanitation unlike the last survey which relied more on self-declaration and documentation by municipalities. The next survey will cover 4,041 cities and towns with total population of 40 crore.