Indore retains crown, Surat joins top spot in cleanliness awards

Madhya Pradesh’s Indore has clinched the top spot in the 2023 edition of the Union government’s annual cleanliness awards for the seventh consecutive year.

Indore shared the first-place honor with Gujarat’s port city Surat in the 2023 Swachh Survekshan Awards, announced on Thursday, January 11.

Both cities impressed with near-perfect scores, boasting 100% door-to-door waste collection, 98% source segregation, and complete remediation of dumpsites, as per the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Swachh Survekshan 2023 dashboard. 

This performance earned them the joint top position among cities with over 1 lakh population.

Here is the full list of the rankings, alongside the city’s rankings from last year:

1. Indore and Surat

3. Navi Mumbai (no change)

4. Visakhapatnam (no change)

5. Bhopal (6)

6. Vijayawada (5)

7. Greater Hyderabad (10)

8. Pune (9)

9. Raipur (11)

10. Pimpri Chinchwad (19)

The rankings evaluate cities based on several key factors, including waste management practices, public space cleanliness, water body health, and, crucially, citizen feedback. 

This year’s marks the first time since the awards’ inception in 2016 that two cities have shared the top honor. 

Navi Mumbai came in a close third, solidifying its commitment to cleanliness.

On the state level, Maharashtra emerged victorious, earning the title for the cleanest state with an impressive 89.24% door-to-door collection and 67.76% source segregation. 

Madhya Pradesh followed closely behind in second place.

Beyond the top contenders, several other awards recognized efforts across various categories. 

Chandigarh was lauded for its Safaimitra Surakshit Shehar initiative, ensuring robust safety protocols for sanitation workers. Varanasi stood out as the cleanest Ganga Town, highlighting efforts to preserve the iconic river’s purity. Notably, Saswad in Maharashtra claimed the top spot among smaller cities (under 1 lakh population), while Mhow Cantonment was declared the cleanest cantonment in the country. 

However, the picture wasn’t entirely rosy. Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Nagaland, and Tripura occupied the bottom five slots among states, indicating room for improvement. 

The Swachh Survekshan Awards have steadily expanded their scope since their inception. This year, the program evaluated a staggering 4,416 urban local bodies, 61 cantonments, and 88 Ganga towns, generating a staggering 1.58 crore online citizen feedbacks and 19.82 lakh face-to-face interviews.

“When everyone contributes to and participates in Swachh Survekshan, it’s an important step forward,” said Indian president Droupadi Murmu at the event. 

“Wealth should be created out of waste as that will help the overall cleanliness. Cleanliness has to be a divine process,” she added.