Indore bags cleanest city title for 5th time in a row; Chhattisgarh named cleanest state

Madhya Pradesh's Indore bagged the title of cleanest city in India for the fifth time in a row. The city was crowned with the 'Swachhata Ka Taaj' by President Ram Nath Kovind at the ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ function organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. Indore was followed by Surat in Gujarat and Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. 

President Ram Nath Kovind addressed Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021 and called for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. 

‘Swachh Survekshan 2021’

For less than one lakh population, Maharashtra's three region topped the positions:

• Vita was awarded as the cleanest city in India.
• Lonavla stood 2nd cleanest city.
• Saswad was recognised as 3rd cleanest city.

Meanwhile, Ahmedabad Cantt was rewarded as the cleanest cantonment in India, Varanasi, the cleanest Ganga Town in India and Chhattisgarh was declared the cleanest state of India.

What is Swachh Survekshan Survey?

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urbain Affairs, "Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India. It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation by 2nd October 2019. The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities; by 2020 the survey had grown to cover 4242 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. In a bid to scale up the coverage of the ranking exercise and encourage towns and cities to actively implement mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is now in the process of conducting the sixth edition of the survey to rank all cities under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) with Quality Council of India (QCI) as its implementation partner". 

Swachh Survekshan 2022

Last month, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had launched the 'Swachh Survekshan 2022', the seventh edition of the annual cleanliness survey under which district rankings have been introduced for the first time. In a statement, the ministry had said that this year's survey will create a level playing field for smaller cities by introducing two population categories -- under 15,000 and between 15,000-25,000.