Nov 20: The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind today felicitated the awardees of the cleanest cities of India at the ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ hosted as part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The award ceremony, organized to recognize the good work done for Swachhata by towns/ cities, States and Union Territories under various initiatives of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), viz. Swachh Survekshan 2021, Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, and certifications for Garbage Free Star rating for cities – saw more than 300 awards under various categories being given away through the day.
or the fifth consecutive year, Indore was awarded the title of India’s Cleanest City under Swachh Survekshan, while Surat and Vijayawada bagged the second and third spots respectively in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category. In the population category of ‘less than 1 lakh’, Vita, Lonavala and Sasvad, all from Maharashtra, bagged the first, second and third positions respectively. Varanasi emerged as the ‘Best Ganga Town’ while Ahmedabad Cantonment won the title of ‘India’s Cleanest Cantonment’, followed by Meerut Cantonment and Delhi Cantonment. In the category of ‘Fastest Mover’, Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh) emerged as the ‘Fastest Mover City’ (in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category) with a jump of 274 ranks from 361st position in the 2020 rankings to the 87th position this year, thus securing a place among the top 100 cities.
In the State awards, Chhattisgarh, for the third consecutive year emerged as the ‘Cleanest State’ in the category of “more than 100 Urban Local Bodies” while Jharkhand, for the second time, won the Cleanest State award in the “less than 100 ULBs category”. Karnataka and Mizoram became the ‘Fastest Mover States’ in the big (more than 100 ULBs) and small (less than 100 ULBs) state category respectively.
Speaking at the event, the President said that this year’s Swachh Survekshan Awards have special significance because we are celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. He noted that Safai Mitras and sanitation workers have continuously rendered their services even during the COVID pandemic. He said that the government is committed to ensure that life of no sanitation worker is put at risk due to unsafe cleaning practices. The President said that effective management of solid waste is essential to keep the cities clean. He stressed that environment conservation has been an integral part of the traditional lifestyle of India. Today whole world is emphasising on environment protection in which focus is on to reduce, reuse and recycle the resources. He noted that good examples are coming out of the idea of ’Waste to Wealth’ and many start-ups are active in these areas. He said that appropriate schemes could be developed to encourage entrepreneurship and investment in these areas.
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs, speaking on the occasion, said that the achievements under SBM-U have been the result of unprecedented collective efforts. He said that today, the Mission has taken the shape of a people’s movement – a true ‘Jan Andolan’. This is also reflected in the massive growth of the Swachh Survekshan which began as a pilot in 2016 among 73 cities, and is the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey today. He said that the next few years will be dedicated to focusing on holistic cleanliness, i.e. Clean Air, Clean Land, and Clean Water. The Minister said that we owe it to our future generations to create greener and inclusive cities. He congratulated the Swachhata Champions of urban India through this celebration, which is appropriately titled Swachh Amrit Mahotsav.
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