The results for the 'Swachh Survekshan 2020', fifth edition of the nationwide annual cleanliness survey are out and three cities from the south have made it to the list of top 25 cleanest cities.
The survey report revealed that Karnataka's Mysuru and Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati and Vijayawada are the three south Indian cities to be named in the category of Top 25 cities with more than 1 lakh population. Mysuru is placed fifth with 5298.61 points. Vijayawada is at number 6 with 5270.32 points and Tirupati is placed twelfth with a total of 5142.76 points. Notably, there has been a drop in the ranking of two of these cities from the 2019 survey reports. Last year, Mysuru was placed third, while Tirupati was placed eighth in the rankings. Vijayawada was earlier twelfth but has climbed up to sixth.
Meanwhile, Greater Hyderabad has been awarded the Best Mega City award in the category of 'Citizen Feedback'. Bengaluru has been named as the Best Self-Sustainable Mega City.
Chennai was named the best Mega City in Innovation and Practices. Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh was named the Cleanest Big City with 10-40 lakh population. Alappuzha in Kerala has won the title of Best Small City (1-3 lakh population) in Innovation and Practices.
However, three cities from south India ranked very low in cleanliness. Out of the top 47 cities listed, Chennai was at number 45, with cleanliness score of 2010.93. At number 42 was Madurai with a score of 2255.81. At number 40 was Coimbatore with a score of 2337.12.
The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India at a virtual event titled 'Swachh Mahotsav' organised by MoHUA.The announcement was made by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday at the Swachh Mahotsav organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
The Swachh Survekshan was introduced with the objective of generating large-scale citizen participation in the mission, along with including a spirit of healthy competition among the cities, leading to the ultimate goal of becoming India's cleanest cities.
Meanwhile across India, Indore won the title of the Cleanest City of India for the fourth successive year. Surat and Navi Mumbai won the second and third position respectively (in the >1 lakh population category). Chhattisgarh won the prestigious title of the Cleanest State of India in the > 100 ULB category while Jharkhand was adjudged the Cleanest State of India in the <100 ULB category.
Hardeep S Puri, MoS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, stated, “Swachh Survekshan will continue to help us in sustaining the gains made under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, while providing a comprehensive roadmap to institutionalize the concept of total Swachhata among all our cities.”