The annual cleanliness survey, ‘Swachh Survekshan,’ has revealed that Howrah in West Bengal has been designated as the dirtiest city in India. Remarkably, the ten least clean cities in India with populations exceeding one lakh all belong to West Bengal.
Howrah leads the list, followed by Kalyani, Madhyagram, Krishnanagar, Asansol, Rishra, Bidhannagar, Kanchrapara, Kolkata, and Bhatpara. With the exception of Kolkata and Bhatpara, the remaining eight West Bengal cities scored below 1,000 in cleanliness.
Shillong in Meghalaya and Sitamarhi in Bihar also secured places near the bottom of the rankings. The evaluation focused on a city’s cleanliness and sanitation practices.
Indore in Madhya Pradesh clinched the title of the cleanest city in India for the seventh consecutive time. Indore was followed by Surat (Gujarat), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).
In terms of states, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh were recognized for having the highest sanitation standards, marking them as the cleanest states. On the other hand, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Nagaland were rated as the least clean states.
Among the cantonment boards, the Mhow Cantonment Board in Madhya Pradesh secured the top position for cleanliness, while Nainital Cantonment ranked at the bottom.
The Swachh Survekshan Awards for 2023 were announced in a ceremony led by President Droupadi Murmu, with the presence of numerous dignitaries. This extensive cleanliness survey involved 4,447 urban local bodies and garnered over 12 crore citizen responses, establishing it as the largest cleanliness survey globally.
