Mysuru topped the rankings of India’s 10 cleanest cities

Mysuru topped the rankings of India’s 10 cleanest cities released by the government on Monday.

Chandigarh, Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, the New Delhi Municipal Council area of the national capital, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Surat and Rajkot in Gujarat, Gangtok in Sikkim, and Pimpri-Chinchwad and Greater Mumbai in Maharashtra followed.

The rankings are aimed at giving a push to the Swachh Bharat Mission. They are based on the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ survey conducted by the Quality Council of India, which is associated with the urban development ministry.

The survey was conducted in 73 cities with a population of over 1 million, and based on parameters laid down by Swachh Bharat such as access to sanitation facilities, strategy to tackle open defecation and solid waste management.

“The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in October 2014. It is now time for the government to have an account of the difference being made on the ground. The objective of the survey is not only to access ground development but also to capture the efforts made by the respective cities which will be reflective in their ranking,” said an official in the ministry of urban development, who did not want to be named.

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched to ensure cleanliness and to rid the country of open defecation by 2019, but has failed to garner the kind of public interest the government envisaged.

The cities were also ranked on efforts to spread awareness and influence behaviour change, door-to-door collection of waste, and transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste. Provision of public as well as community toilets and construction of individual household toilets were also key factors.

A similar survey conducted in 2014 did not take into account the parameters laid down for the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Though 75 cities were initially chosen for the survey, Kolkata and Noida opted out for lack of preparedness.

“Through a participatory survey, these rankings will bring competition into the mission. It will also help the government access the good practices being followed by certain urban local bodies and show which cities are lagging behind,” the official cited above said.