Indore in Madhya Pradesh has been ranked India’s cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan survey released by the government recently.
The urban development minister calls the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as the movers and shakers of the cleanliness drive.
Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh (AP), Surat in Gujarat and Mysore in Karnataka followed.
The cities which ranked at the bottom include Gonda in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bhusawal in Maharashtra, Bagaha in Bihar and Hardoi in Uttarakhand.
The survey was conducted in 434 cities and towns to monitor the progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The survey was conducted by the Quality Council of India, in association with the central government.
The cities surveyed were ranked on criteria which included solid waste management, open defecation-free status, citizen participation and independent observation. They were assessed on a total of 2000 marks. According to the government, these 434 cities and towns account for 60% of the country’s urban population.
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh account for 31 of the cities ranked in the top 50. This list includes cities from 14 states. Out of the 62 cities surveyed in Uttar Pradesh, 41 are ranked among the bottom 100. According to the survey, the list of bottom 100 cities also includes 15 cities from Bihar, 13 from Rajasthan and seven from Punjab.
Last year, a similar survey was conducted by the government in 73 cities. Mysuru, which topped the survey last year, has been ranked fifth this year.
Mysuru continues to score over 87%. This shows that there is no decline in sanitation levels from last year but other cities have scored better.
Faridabad in Haryana has been ranked as the fastest moving city, securing an overall rank of 88, an improvement from 2016 where it was in the bottom one-third. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, has improved to rank 32 this year from 418 in 2014.
The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 with the aim of making India clean and free of open defecation.
Top 10 cities
| City | 2017 rank | 2016 rank |
| Indore | 1 | 25 |
| Bhopal | 2 | 21 |
| Visakhapatnam | 3 | 5 |
| Surat | 4 | 6 |
| Mysuru | 5 | 1 |
| Tiruchirapally | 6 | 3 |
| NDMC | 7 | 4 |
| Navi Mumbai | 8 | 12 |
| Tirupati | 9 | Not Surveyed |
| Vadodara | 10 | 13 |
Bottom 10 Cities
| City | 2017 rank | 2014 rank |
| Gonda | 434 | 151 |
| Bhusawal | 433 | 267 |
| Bagaha | 432 | 453 |
| Hardoi | 431 | 235 |
| Katihar | 430 | 385 |
| Bahraich | 429 | 449 |
| Muktsar | 428 | 384 |
| Abohar | 427 | 420 |
| Shahjahanpur | 426 | 425 |
| Khurja | 425 | 366 |