BHUBANESWAR: Odisha improved its position as the ninth best State in terms of cleanliness, even as four cities including Bhubaneswar found a place among the top 100 cities in the one to 10 lakh population category in the Swachh Survekshan 2022 awards, which were announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Saturday. Odisha was in 10th place for the last two years. Madhya Pradesh secured the first position, followed by Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
On the other hand, nine urban areas from the State secured ranks among cities in one to 10 lakh population category. Rourkela Municipality which secured an overall rank of 45 earned the tag of the cleanest city in the State, followed by Puri and Bhubaneswar who secured overall rank of 58 and 80 respectively.
Berhampur at 56 and Rourkela town at 57 were the only two urban areas from the State that were in the list of 100 cleanest cities last year. The performance of Berhampur, however, was downgraded though the city with an overall rank of 90 managed to secure a position among top 100 cities. The Corporation remained fourth cleanest urban area in the State.
Capital City Bhubaneswar managed to get a spot among top 100 cleanest cities in one to 10 lakh population category after a gap of three years. Apart from these four cities, Balasore town was placed at 126th rank, while Sambalpur secured 166th rank. Cuttack Municipal Corporation was ranked a distant 202 in the national cleanliness survey. Baripada secured a rank of 243 rank followed by Bhadrak at 273.
On the other hand, 11 urban areas from the State received awards from President Droupadi Murmu and other delegates for their performance in different categories. Bhubaneswar was awarded for being the best Capital in the East zone in terms of ‘Citizens feedback’, while Berhampur was awarded for its innovation and best practices. Bargarh amd Paradip were awarded in the fastest-moving city and innovative practices categories. Basudevpur, Junagarh and Binika also received awards in different categories in the East zone.