Stage set to rank 75 top cities under ‘Swachh Bharat’

That result was based on a survey that measured how sanitation has improved since the PM launched the Clean India mission in 2014 by sweeping a road in the capital himself. The other four cleanest cities which make the top five are Chandigarh, Tiruchirapalli, the New Delhi Municipal Council and Visakhapatnam. Last year, Mysore was ranked first among India’s 476 cleanest cities. Unfortunately, PM Modi’s constituency, Varanasi has also been listed in the last ten cities.

The other towns who are at the bottom of the list are Dhanbad in Jharkhand, Bengal’s Asansol and Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar.

The survey parameters have been aligned with the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission with more focus on solid waste management which is adversely impacting cleanliness in urban areas.

It aims at popularising the “Swachh Bharat” Mission, “and to bring competitive spirit among people to keep their cities clean”, the minister added. The Minister said the 73 cities surveyed this year were also ranked based on the marks they scored in 2014 for arriving at their ranks in 2014 for further comparison with the results of this years survey. That survey was done before the launch of “Swachh Bharat” mission’. These cities need to work harder to improve sanitation. Results of “Swachh Survekshan-2016” were released by Uniono Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu at a media conference in New Delhi on Monday. While East Delhi Municipal Corporation was ranked 52, North and South Delhi Municipal Corporation were 43 and 39, respectively.

In the proposed survey, solid waste management is being given 60% weightage followed by 15% each for availability and use of household individual toilets and public and community toilets besides 5% each for city level sanitation plans and Information, Education and Behaviour Change Communication(IEBC) activities.

Mr Naidu said Quality Council of India which conducted the survey deployed 25 teams of three trained surveyors each to visit 42 locations in each city covering major zones like railway stations, bus stations, religious places, major market places, planned and unplanned residential areas including slums and toilet complexes.

Mysuru in Chandigarh, Karnataka and Tiruchirapalli have been in Leading 3’s sweet-spot.