NEW DELHI
In good news for Goans, Goa was adjudged as the third cleanest State in the country in the central government's annual cleanliness awards -- Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2021 -- announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Saturday.
Goa got the award in the category of States with less than 100 urban local bodies. Jharkhand was ranked first, followed by Haryana.
The ministry said that at least 4,320 cities were surveyed in 28 days during the Swacch Sarvekshan, adding that over 4.2 crore people gave their feedback during the process. Goa bagged third place with score of 1350 while Jharkhand topped the list with a score of 1880 followed by Haryana with 1745 score.
Among the 659 districts, North Goa district ranked 324th and South Goa ranked 463rd in the cleanliness ranking.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, having more than 100 urban local bodies, have been adjudged the second and third cleanest State in the country. Chhattisgarh retained the first position.
Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for the fifth time in a row. The second and third positions were secured by Surat and Vijayawada, respectively. Incidentally none of the cities in Goa featured in the clean cities list.
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. Varanasi had won the same award last year as well.
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.
According to the ministry, Maharashtra has bagged a total of 92 awards, the highest by any state, followed by Chhattisgarh with 67 awards.
Under the survey, a total of nine cities -- Indore, Surat, New Delhi Municipal Council, Navi Mumbai, Ambikapur, Mysuru, Noida, Vijayawada and Patan -- have been certified with 5 star city ratings under the garbage-free city category while 143 cities have been rated as 3 star.
President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the awards in the presence of Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and others at an event here.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel received the award for the country's cleanest state from President Ram Nath Kovind at the event.
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 has been ranked the cleanest city with less than one lakh population, followed by Lonavala and Sasvad. All the three cities are from Maharashtra.
New Delhi Municipal Council secured the first position in the country's cleanest small city category of 1-3 lakh population while Hoshangabad and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) emerged as the “Fastest Mover small city” and “Best Small City in Citizens'' Feedback” categories, respectively.
Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh) with a jump of 274 ranks from 361st position in the 2020 rankings to the 87th position this year has also secured a place among the top 100 cities.
Noida emerged as the country's “cleanest medium city” in the category of 3-10 lakh population. Last year, Mysore had won this award.
Indore, Navi Mumbai, Nellore and Dewas have emerged as the top performers in the category of ''Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge''. Navi Mumbai also got the first position as India's ''cleanest big city'' in the category of 10-40 lakh population.
Speaking at the event, President Kovind said that this year's Swachh Survekshan Awards have special significance because the country is celebrating ''Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav''.
He noted that “Safai Mitras” and sanitation workers have continuously rendered their services even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On his part, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the achievements under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) have been the result of unprecedented collective efforts.
