Down To Earth | Swachh Survekshan 2020: Indore is the cleanest city 4th time in a row

Aug 20,2020

Indore was declared the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive time in the Swachh Survekshan, 2020 — India’s annual survey on cleanliness. The results were declared August 20 by Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

The pan-India survey was started in 2016. It ranks India’s cities, towns and states based on sanitation, waste management and overall cleanliness.

The fifth edition this year was carried out and completed within 28 days. It ranked 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 97 Ganga towns. 

Surat in Gujarat and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra bagged the second and third spot respectively among the cleanest cities with more than a million population. 

Maharashtra’s Karad, Saswad and Lonavala bagged the first three positions for cities having population less than one lakh.

Among the cities with population between one and 10 lakh, Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur was declared the cleanest, followed by Mysore in Karnataka. 

In fact, Chhattisgarh was ranked the cleanest state in category of states having more than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULB). It was followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

In 2019, Chhattisgarh was on the third position in the category. The survey found that Chhattisgarh is the first and only state where every city achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF)++ status. 

The Union minister also congratulated the state for creating ‘waste to wealth’ in the form of its Gau Dhan Yojana, under which it buys cow dung from farmers, produces vermicompost and markets it commercially as fertilisers.  

Door-to-door collection, source segregation, ODF status and progress in achieving ODF ++ were among the major parameters for selecting best performing cities and states.

his year’s survey primarily focused on collection of segregated waste and its maintenance till the processing site; treatment and re-use of waste water; curtailment of solid waste-based air pollution; and improvement of social conditions of informal waste pickers, among others. 

The assessment of 97 Ganga towns was done separately to measure cleanliness in and around the ghats. Varanasi, Kannauj and Chunar bagged the first three positions respectively. 

The assessment was done based on parameters such as:

Open dumpsites sighted (or not) near ghats or on the river bank
Garbage vulnerable points near ghats or on the riverbank
Solid waste floating on the Ganga (passing through UBLs jurisdiction)
Availability of anti-littering messages around ghats / riverbanks accessible to citizens
Availability of twin litter bins every 50 meters around ghats / riverbanks accessible to citizens
Sweeping and cleaning arrangements at least once a day
Sweeping / cleaning around all ghats / riverbanks
Nullah discharge into river
Availability of solid waste plant and trash cleaners to trap solid waste floating on river surface
The survey has evolved from its first edition, when only 73 cities were assessed. Five more cities have been included since 2019. 

Around 2,606 ULBs practice door-to-door garbage collection in more than 50 per cent wards and 1,476 ULBs initiated source segregation of waste in at least 50 per cent wards, the 2020 survey found.While 438 ULBs process at least 80 per cent of their collected wet waste, 377 process at least 80 per cent of their collected dry waste. The report stated that 1,020 cities have at least 80 per cent of all constructed toilets attached to a sewerage. 

Over 1,000 ULBs were declared ODF+; 483 ULBs ODF++; and 966 ULBs banned open dumping of fecal sludge, according to the survey.

Around 1.87 crore citizens recorded their online feedback.

At least 5.5 lakh sanitary workers linked to social welfare schemes and over 84,000 informal waste pickers have been brought into the mainstream in the country’s bid to attain improved cleanliness standards, the report said.