Hyderabad is planning to add more feathers to its cap. After Open Defecation Free (ODF) ++ certification, the city is now trying for the five star certification, which is issued for cities for being garbage free, in the country. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Star Rating protocol in January 2018 to institutionalise a mechanism for cities to achieve garbage-free status, and to motivate cities to achieve higher degrees of cleanliness. Accordingly, after the assessment year 2019-2020, six cities, including Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysuru, Indore and Navi Mumbai have been certified as 5-Star. This apart, 65 cities were ranked as three-star and 70 cities as one-star. These results were announced in May early this year. There is a seven star certification but no city has obtained the certification till date in the country. In addition to the Swachh Survekshan annual cleanliness survey for urban India, the Ministry devised the Star Rating protocol for garbage-free cities. The protocol has been devised in a holistic manner including components such as cleanliness of drains and water bodies, plastic waste management, managing construction and demolition waste, etc., which are key factors for achieving garbage free cities. Hyderabad is currently ranked as ODF++ city and has recently applied for water plus city certification. It has almost all the parameters that are required for achieving the five-star certification and being implemented effectively for the last few years. There are three categories of parameters, including the mandatory, essential and desirable that a city needs to achieve for the certification. Under the mandatory parameter category, aspects pertain to door-to-door collection, segregation of source, sweeping of public, commercial and residential areas, dry and wet waste processing and others. In the essential parameter category, bulk waste generators compliance, penalty levying mechanism, construction and demolition (C&D) waste collection, and others are observed. In the desirable parameter category sustainability, on-site wet waste processing, dumpsite remediation and others are checked, said an official from GHMC.