New Delhi: Indore and Surat jointly grabbed the cleanest city accolade Thursday, while Maharashtra was adjudged the cleanest state at the government’s Swachh Survekshan Awards for 2023. This time around, Surat broke Indore’s six-year run as the cleanest city, by joining it for the top spot.
The Swachh Survekshan survey, conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, is the largest sanitation and cleanliness survey in the world.
Indore and Surat ranked first among cities with a population of over one lakh, followed by Navi Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Vijayawada, New Delhi, Tirupati, Greater Hyderabad, and Pune.
In cities with a population over one million or 10 lakhs, Indore came first while Surat was second. Three cities in West Bengal – Kolkata, Asansol and Howrah were identified as laggards in this category.
Among states, Maharashtra topped the rankings, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Rajasthan, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh occupied the bottom three positions on cleanliness. West Bengal did not figure in this list.
Bhopal was ranked the cleanest of all capital cities with a population above one lakh, followed by Vijayawada, New Delhi, Greater Hyderabad and Chandigarh. Kolkata was ranked last in this category, preceded by Shillong, Itanagar, Kohima and Guwahati.
Of towns on the Ganges, Varanasi was identified as the cleanest with Prayagraj and Bijnor finishing a close second and third. The other cities, according to subsequent ranks, were Haridwar, Kannauj, Patna, Rishikesh and Kanpur. Chhapra in Bihar was ranked last in this category.
The Swachh Survekshan survey 2023 also ranked cities based on their open defecation-free (ODF) status, with Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Vijayawada, New Delhi, Tirupati, Greater Hyderabad and Pune emerging as the top performers.
At the awards event in New Delhi, Thursday, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said every city in India is today open-defecation free. This was possible, he said, because the Swachh Bharat Mission “went from a government programme to becoming a jan andolan (public movement)”. He added that compared to only 15-16 percent of scientific processing of waste in 2014, that figure is now 76 percent and the aim is to take it further to 100 percent in the next two-three years.
Swachh Survekshan, the annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation of cities, towns and villages across India, has “integrated a strict process and discipline” among people, he said.
“From modest beginnings in 2016, today the Swachh Survekshan has evolved into the world’s largest annual survey. It has fostered healthy competition among cities and is a robust third-party assessment.”
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the thirteen awardees under various categories including ‘Cleanest Cities’, ‘Cleanest Cantonments’, ‘SafaiMitra Suraksha’, ‘Ganga Towns’ and ‘Best Performing State’.
Chandigarh walked away with the award for the Best Safaimitra Surakshit Sheher. 110 awards were given away during the ceremony.
“When everyone contributes to and participates in Swachh Survekshan, it’s an important step forward,” President Murmu said while addressing the event at the Bharat Mandapam, adding that the theme for 2023 — “Waste to Wealth” — is an important issue.
“I would like to say that wealth should be created out of waste as that will help the overall cleanliness. Cleanliness has to be made a divine process. The G20 leaders’ Delhi Declaration has committed to ‘enhance environmentally sound waste management and substantially reduce waste generation by 2030 and highlight the importance of zero waste initiatives,” she added.
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