Indore, cleanest city for 7th year, will now move to Golden City Club

The central government will set up a ‘golden city club’ to give more States a chance to rank top among those with the cleanest cities, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

“Indore has managed to hold the top position for years. Hence, we have decided that whoever comes first this time, will be moved to a different category called ‘golden city club’. We will then keep the winning city aside and consider the next one on the list for the golden city club, thus creating a different competition to enter this club,” Mr Khattar told reporters before the launch of the Swabhav Swachhata Sanskaar Swachhata (4S) campaign.

The campaign includes mega cleanliness drives at various sites such as tourist locations, public buildings, commercial areas, community toilets, public toilets, water bodies, zoos, and sanctuaries.

Maharashtra cleanest State

The central government's Annual Cleanliness Survey has adjudged Maharashtra as the cleanest state in India. Maharashtra is followed by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh. Indore, and Surat named cleanest cities in the annual survey. Notably, Indore bagged the title seventh time in a row. Chandigarh won the award for the city having the best safety standards for sanitation workers — Safaimitra Surakshit Shehar. Varanasi was named the cleanest “Ganga town”.

In the category of  'best performing states' in ‘Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023’, Maharashtra bagged the top rank, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Indore bagged the cleanest city title for the seventh time in a row.

The annual awards were launched in 2016 as a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban. The 2023 awards covered 4,416 urban local bodies, 61 cantonments and 88 Ganga towns. According to the Ministry, 1.58 crore online citizen feedback and 19.82 lakh face-to-face views were received as a part of the ranking exercise.

(By arrangement with livemint.com)