New Delhi: Indore has emerged as the cleanest city in India, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh in the government's cleanliness survey, Swachh Survekshan 2018. The survey, organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), under the aegis of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), aims to estimate levels of cleanliness across cities in the country.
Indore was the cleanest city in 2017 as well, but that survey was conducted only for around 430 cities. This time it was conducted for around 4,200 cities. The announcement was made by the MoS for Housing Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday. "I've lived in some of the cleanest cities in the world during my long stay abroad and I must tell you that the cleanliness levels in Indore and Bhopal give them a run for their money," he said.
Looking at the way citizens of big winning cities had turned Swachhata into a Jan Andolan, I am not surprised at the results. Congratulations #Indore & #Bhopal for a repeat performance at #1&2. Well done #Chandigarh for coming in 3rd.
Others will surely try & catch up next year. pic.twitter.com/M8PMQRn1QI— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 16, 2018
A tale of two cities!
The way Indore & Bhopal retain the Top-2 spots is a commendable feat. I want to congratulate the citizens, ULB’s, Mayors & elected representatives of the two cities & MP CM @ChouhanShivraj for his leadership.
All it takes is a good CM to change the state. pic.twitter.com/0KWXUU1heT— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 16, 2018
Responding to the minister, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted:
Thank you @HardeepSPuri Ji for the kind words. It is all due to efforts of the people of two cities & the administration. Cleanliness drive has been taken up as a mission by citizens of the state. Efforts like #SwachhSurvekshan2018 enhance spirit of participative governance. https://t.co/o3O5PcZtxc
— ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) May 16, 2018
On the other hand, Jharkhand has been adjudged the best-performing state in the survey, followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Compared to the previous surveys, this year's exercise allocated substantial weight to the feedback from citizens based on their daily experience. "79% of the respondents from 4,203 cities and town have reported a definite improvement in cleanliness. I would prefer to call these results as ‘citizens verdict’ on sanitation in urban areas given the scale and eagerness of citizens’ participation," Puri said.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also shared his happiness on Twitter:
Great news for Maharashtra again!
Maharashtra bags 10 awards in #SwachhSurvekshan2018 !
Total 4203 ULBs across the Nation got assessed and we bagged maximum awards!
Congratulations Maharashtra!
Maharashtra is also ranked 2nd in the country as best performing State! pic.twitter.com/buXpG0BX6D— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) May 16, 2018
Some of the other cities in the list are - Ghaziabad is 'fastest mover' city (population 10 lakh), Nagpur is the best city in 'innovation and best practices' (population 10 lakh), Navi Mumbai is the best city in 'solid waste management', Bhiwandi is 'fastest mover' city (population 3-10 lakh), Aligarh is the best city in 'innovation and best practices' (population 3-10 lakh), Mangalore is the best city in 'solid waste management' (population 3-10), New Delhi Municipal Council is the cleanest city (population 1-3 lakh), Greater Mumbai is cleanest state capital/UT, Bhusawal is 'fastest mover' city (population 1-3 lakh) and Kota is the best city in 'citizens feedback' (population 10 lakh), among others.
The names of the worst performing cities would be announced on the day the awards would be presented, Puri said.
