Cleanliness has always been etched in the DNA of Indian culture since time immemorial. Mahatma Gandhi has gone so far to preach “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” Following his values and teachings, the government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi started ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ to promote cleanliness and sanitation in the country’s cities and villages alike.
In order to further promote the competitive spirit in maintaining cleanliness among cities, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conducts Swachh Survekshan survey each year since 2016. The survey is the world’s largest cleanliness survey which covers about 4242 cities of India. It is a completely digitized and paperless survey, which takes into consideration document evidences, geotagged pictures as well as citizens’ feedback before ranking the cities in order of cleanliness.
According to the Swachh Survekshan 2020 survey results declared on August 20, 2020, Indore of Madhya Pradesh ranked 1st in the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive year. The Swachh Survekshan 2020 survey is the fifth edition of the survey. Second and third ranks were secured by the Surat City of Gujarat and Navi Mumbai of Maharashtra respectively. In addition to this, Varanasi was the adjudged the ‘best Ganga town’ in the central government’s cleanliness survey.
Congratulating Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the wondrous achievement, Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, “I visited Indore a few years ago, along with a member of a Japanese delegation. When we reached the city, I saw he (Japanese) going to various places in Indore. I asked him ‘what are you doing?’ He said ‘I was trying to find filth, but couldn’t’. I don’t think there could be any bigger testimony to the achievement of the city.”
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to Twitter to congratulate the people of Indore. He said, “Congratulations to the people of Indore for achieving the first position in being India’s cleanest city in Swachh Survekshan 2020. The city has hit a four this time and surely will hit a six in the coming future.”
इंदौर ने बढ़ाया देश व प्रदेश का मान
चौथी बार मिला सबसे स्वच्छ शहर का सम्मान-स्वच्छ सर्वेक्षण 2020 में मध्यप्रदेश के इंदौर को चौथी बार देश के सबसे स्वच्छ शहर का खिताब मिला
-इंदौर ने देश के 4242 शहरों को पीछे छोड़कर इतिहास रचा है। pic.twitter.com/7DDu0XHdqL
— CMO Madhya Pradesh (@CMMadhyaPradesh) August 20, 2020