Delhi: Indore and Surat achieved a historic joint victory, sharing the prestigious title of the cleanest cities, while Maharashtra secured the foremost position among states in the annual cleanliness rankings for urban areas conducted by the Union government. Indore, for the seventh consecutive year, maintained its reign as the cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan Awards. Surat, consistently trailing Indore in the second position for the past three years, clinched the top award for the first time.
The noteworthy accomplishments of both cities included achieving a 100% door-to-door collection of waste, 98% segregation at source, and 100% remediation of dumpsites, as reported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Swachh Survekshan 2023 dashboard. Notably, both Indore and Surat shared the pinnacle position among cities with a population exceeding 1 lakh.
The rankings consider various factors, including the effectiveness of door-to-door waste collection, the degree of segregation at source, the cleanliness of public spaces, the state of water bodies, and feedback from citizens regarding the cleanliness of their respective cities.
This marked the inaugural instance of dual cities sharing the prestigious top prize in the eight rounds of annual awards held since 2016. Notably, Navi Mumbai secured the third position, adding to the diversity of recognized clean cities in this year’s rankings.
With an impressive 89.24% in door-to-door waste collection and a notable 67.76% in source segregation, Maharashtra clinched the title of the cleanest state. Following closely, Madhya Pradesh secured the second position with a commendable 90.59% in door-to-door collection and 54.1% in source segregation.
Chandigarh earned recognition for maintaining the highest safety standards for sanitation workers, winning the prestigious “Safaimitra Surakshit Shehar” award. Varanasi was acknowledged as the cleanest ‘Ganga town‘. In the category of cities with a population below 1 lakh, Sasvad in Maharashtra was honored as the cleanest city. Additionally, Mhow Cantonment claimed the title of the cleanest cantonment in the country.
In contrast, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Nagaland, and Tripura found themselves at the bottom of the state rankings.
Since its initiation with 73 cities in 2016, the annual ranking has progressively expanded its scope. In the 2023 round, the assessment covered 4,416 urban local bodies, 61 cantonments, and 88 Ganga towns. The Ministry reported the receipt of 1.58 crore online citizen feedback and 19.82 lakh face-to-face views during the ranking process.
During the award ceremony, President Droupadi Murmu emphasized the significance of transforming waste into wealth. She highlighted the concerning scenario where vast urban lands are buried under mountains of garbage, posing a detrimental impact on health. President Murmu acknowledged the Swachh Bharat Mission‘s dedicated efforts to eliminate such legacy dumpsites and address the broader issue of waste management.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri highlighted a substantial improvement in the scientific processing of waste, increasing from 15-16% in 2014 to an impressive 76% at present. Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored cities’ efforts towards achieving 100% waste processing. He also acknowledged the persisting issue of manual cleaning of sewers by sanitation workers, leading to accidents and fatalities—an issue that must be entirely eradicated.
The top 10 big cities with populations exceeding 10 lakh in 2023, based on cleanliness rankings, are as follows:
- Indore (maintaining the same rank as in 2022)
- Surat (maintaining the same rank as in 2022)
- Navi Mumbai (maintaining the same rank as in 2022)
- Visakhapatnam (maintaining the same rank as in 2022)
- Bhopal (rising from rank 6 in 2022)
- Vijayawada (falling from rank 5 in 2022)
- Greater Hyderabad (rising from rank 10 in 2022)
- Pune (falling from rank 9 in 2022)
- Raipur (rising from rank 11 in 2022)
- Pimpri Chinchwad (rising from rank 19 in 2022)