Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat campaign has declared Bangalore to be the cleanest state capital in the country. Another feather to Karnataka’s cap would be Mysore city being voted as the cleanest among all 476 cities in the country!
Bangalore City scape | Image source: www.iStock.com
Well, even on the whole, Southern states of India have made it to the top positions with places in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka acing the list . West Bengal comes soon after, with 25 of its cities finding place in the top 100. In fact, only 12 cities from Northern India have been included, thus scoring the lowest in terms of number of cities enlisted.
So why have these places been chosen as the best? Well the government says the decision was made according to hygiene and solid waste management practices. These places use smart ways to dispose garbage and also recorded minimal open defecation.
Image courtesy: www.springtide.in
Shockingly, our capital Delhi has managed to secure very low ranking with the best area, Lutyen’s Delhi, coming 16th and the rest of Delhi pushed to the end of the list, in the 300s.
To decide these positions, the reports submitted by the municipal bodies of the respective states were considered and also field inspection reports and direct contact with people in the areas were taken into account. Other reasons that were taken into account were drinking water quality, mortality rates, surface quality of water bodies and disposal systems.
Here are the 10 best and worst cities in India:
The cleanest 10:
1. Mysore
2. Thiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu)
3. Navi Mumbai
4. Kochi (Kerala)
5. Hassan (Karnataka)
6. Mandya (Karnataka)
7. Bengaluru (Karnataka)
8. Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala)
9. Halisahar (West Bengal)
10. Gangtok (Sikkim)
The filthiest 10
1. Damoh (MP)
2. Bhind (MP)
3. Palwal (Haryana)
4. Bhiwani (Haryana)
5. Chittorgarh (Rajasthan)
6. Bulandshahar (UP)
7. Neemuch (MP)
8. Rewari (Haryana)
9. Hindaun (Rajasthan)
10. Sambalpur (Odisha)
It’s true that our PM’s cleaning spree has got a good start; now the challenge would be to maintain it.
Time to learn a few lessons from Bangalore and Mysore!
