Swachh Survekshan 2021: Indore becomes India's cleanest city again, know which state is the cleanest

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021 have been presented to clean cities by President Ram Nath Kovind. Indore has been declared the cleanest city in India for the 5th time in a row by the central government. Surat has got the second position. While Indore in MP stood first, President Kovind honored Surat in Gujarat and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh for becoming the second and third cleanest cities in the country. At the same time, Varanasi of UP has got first place in the category of cleanest Ganga city in the annual cleanliness survey of the Central Government.

President Ram Nath Kovind said at the 'Clean Amrit Mahotsav' program organized in Delhi, 'Change in the thinking of the countrymen is a huge success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Today this change has taken place on a large scale. Now in many families, even small children stop the elders of the family from spreading dirt. He further said those children prevent him from throwing anything on the road. I congratulate the countrymen for such a change. I especially appreciate the Safai Mitras and Safai Karamcharis for the success of the cleanliness drive.

Chhattisgarh was declared the cleanest state in India in the annual cleanliness survey announced by the central government.

In the category of cleanest Ganga city, Varanasi of UP has got the first place.

Surat in Gujarat and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh were awarded for becoming the second and third cleanest cities in the country.

Indore has been declared India's cleanest city for the 5th time in a row.

According to the information, 342 cities were honored by President Kovind, which were awarded in the category of Garbage Free City and Safai Mitra Challenge in 'Swachh Survekshan 2021'. The program to honor cities, 'Swachh Amrit Mahotsav', is being organized by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) and is taking place at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital, the ministry said.

Apart from this, the program will also pay tribute to the sanitation workers by recognizing the top-performing cities under the 'SafaiMitra Suraksha Challenge'. A total of 4,320 cities participated in the 2021 edition of Swachh Survekshan. Cities are usually rated using the star system and this year, 342 cities were given certificates under certain star ratings, compared to 56 in 2018. This includes nine five-star cities, 166 three-star cities, 167 one-star cities. This is the sixth edition of the Swachh Survekshan which has become the world's largest urban sanitation survey, the ministry said.

Highlighting the improvement in the performance of several states and union territories, the ministry said that six states and six union territories have shown an overall improvement of between 5% and 25% in their overall grassroots level improvement.

Those present during the award ceremony include Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State Kaushal Kishor, Chief Ministers and Urban Development Ministers, diplomats, state and city administrators, and senior officials, sector partners and brand ambassadors, NGOs and the participation of 1,200 guests including the CSO.

Last year, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot and Surat (Gujarat), Mysore (Karnataka), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), and Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) were given five-star ratings.