NEW DELHI: While Indore wins the coveted title of the ‘Cleanest City’, Surat and Navi Mumbai have bagged the second and third position respectively in the cleanliness survey announced by the Ministry of Urban Affairs on Thursday.
Chhattisgarh won the title of the Cleanest State of India (in >100 Urban Local Bodies category) while Jharkhand was adjudged the Cleanest State (in the <100 ULB category). With noteworthy progress being made in the past six years under SBM-U, Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri outlined the vision for the next phase.
“Our efforts going forward will be on safe containment, transportation and disposal of faecal sludge and septage from toilets, and also the grey and black water from households and establishments. Along with this, the treatment of all wastewater before discharging into water bodies, and their maximum possible re-use will also be our priority.
Provision of adequate safety gear and mechanized equipment to sanitation workers will be paid maximum attention,” he added. Speaking at the occasion, Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA said, Swachh Survekshan 2020 continued momentum of earlier surveys that covered 4242 cities, 62 Cantonment Boards and 97 Ganga Towns and saw an unprecedented participation of 1.87 crore citizens.