The Swachh Survekshan awards were given away by President Droupadi Murmu on January 11, 2024 in New Delhi. While Indore and Surat are the joint awardees for 2023, Indore has been adjudged the cleanest city for the seventh time in a row.
The list of top 10 cleanest cities with a population of more than one lakh includes Greater Visakhapatnam, New Delhi, Tirupati, Pune, Bhopal, and Greater Hyderabad.
Surat in Gujarat and Indore in Madhya Pradesh were on Thursday jointly declared the cleanest cities of the country at the annual Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023 of the Union Urban Affairs Ministry. Navi Mumbai bagged the third spot.
Maharashtra Is The Topper Among States
Among all the states of India, Maharashtra came first, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the third position. Odisha has received fourth rank, followed by Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Karnataka, Goa, Haryana, and Bihar.
Among cities with less than one lakh population, Sasvad and Lonavala in Maharashtra as well as Patan in Chhattisgarh have got the top three spots. The Mhow Cantonment Board in Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the cleanest cantonment board in the country.
Varanasi and Prayagraj, both located in Uttar Pradesh, have won the top two awards amongst the cleanest Ganga towns. Chandigarh won the award for the Best Safaimitra Surakshit Sheher (safest city for sanitation workers).
20 zonal awards were given to medium and small cities.
3 Cities From West Bengal At The Bottom
Madhyamgram, Kalyani and Haora – all from West Bengal – were placed at the bottom. States that brought up the rear were Rajasthan, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The theme of the cleanliness survey 2023 was “Waste to Wealth”. For 2024, it is “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” that leans heavily towards sustainability.
“Only by eliminating manholes through mechanised cleaning and achieving the goal of sanitation through machine holes, we will be able to establish our true identity as a sensitive society,” President Murmu said in her address. She noted that the circular economy’s methods of recycling and reusing more and more goods were proving helpful for sustainable development. She was confident that such a system would prove to be useful for waste management as well.
The President also launched the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ 2023 dashboard at the function.
Bengali