Indore cleanest city for 5th year in a row; Chhattisgarh cleanest state

Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for the fifth time in a row in the Central government's annual cleanliness awards while Chhattisgarh retained the first position in the state category.

The second and third positions in the 'cleanest city' category of the 'Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2021' were secured by Surat and Vijayawada, respectively.

Varanasi, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha, has been adjudged the "cleanest Ganga town" while Bihar's Munger and Patna have been ranked second and third in the category.

Although Indore and Surat retained their positions in the 'Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021', Navi Mumbai lost its third spot to Vijaywada and was in the fourth position in the latest survey results announced by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry on Saturday.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the awards in presence of Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and others at an event here.

The ministry said in the latest nationwide cleanliness survey, 4,320 cities were covered in 28 days, adding that over 4.2 core people had given their feedback.

Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, having more than 100 urban local bodies, have been adjudged the second and third cleanest state in the country. In the category of states with less than 100 urban local bodies, Jharkhand has been ranked first, followed by Haryana and Goa.

The 10 top-ranked cleanest cities, having a population of more than one lakh, are Indore, Surat, Vijaywada, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Ambikapur, Tirupati, Pune, Noida and Ujjain. Lucknow has been ranked the lowest among 25 cities in the same category.

According to the ministry, Vita city of Maharashtra has been ranked the cleanest city with less than one lakh population, followed by Lonavala and Sasvad.

New Delhi Municipal Council secured the first position in the country's cleanest small city category of 1-3 lakh population while Hoshangawad and Triputi emerged as the "Fastest Mover small city" and "Best Small City in Citizens' Feedback" categories, respectively.

Noida emerged as the country's "cleanest medium city" in the category of 3-10 lakh population. Navi Mumbai bagged the first award in the category of 'Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge'. It also got the first position as India's 'cleanest big city' in the category of 10-40 lakh population.

In the category of cantonment boards, Ahmedabad was ranked the cleanest city, followed by Meerut and Delhi.

Surat has bagged the first award in the district ranking category while Indore and New Delhi have secured second and third position, respectively.