Swachh Survekshan 2017: Competition Augurs Well For The Nation, Says PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight congratulated the 10 top cities selected in terms of cleanliness and said the healthy competition among the cities for becoming cleaner augurs well for the country.

“Congratulations to the top 10 cities,” he tweeted while referring to the government survey released earlier in the day which showed Indore in Madhya Pradesh as the cleanest city in the country and Gonda in Uttar Pradesh as the dirtiest.

“#SwachhSurvekshan2017 offers an extensive picture on where our cities stand on cleanliness and the roadmap ahead,” PM Modi said in another tweet.

The Urban Development Ministry had commissioned the survey for 434 cities and towns with a population of 1 lakh and above in January and February this year.

Overall, 37 lakh people responded to a set of six questions about the city they belonged.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2017: These Are India’s Cleanest And Dirtiest Cities

The 434 cities account for about 60 per cent of the total urban population in the country. The response of 18 lakh people was taken into consideration for the survey after the elimination of duplicate feedback.

In response to a tweet by a follower that the survey showed increase in competition among the cities, the Prime Minister said, “Yes. Such healthy competition between cities for becoming cleaner augurs well for the nation.”

He attributed “success” of the cleanliness campaign to the efforts of 125 crore Indians “who have taken a vow for making India clean.”

Swacchh Bharat (clean India) campaign is an ambitious initiative of the Prime Minister who is according top priority to it.

Bhopal, also in Madhya Pradesh, occupies the second best spot among 434 cities and towns, followed by Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, announcing the results of an exercise he described as a citizens’ verdict.

Mysuru in Karnataka, which bagged the first spot in the last two surveys, has slipped to the fifth position. Gujarat, with 12 cities in the top 50, has the best score among the states, and Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for half of the 50 dirtiest cities, is at the bottom of the list.

Madhya Pradesh, with 11 cities in the top 50, and Andhra Pradesh, with eight, follow Gujarat. Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu is the sixth cleanest city, followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council area of the national capital.

Also Read: Swachh Survekshan 2017: How Twitter Is Congratulating The Cleanest City Of India – Indore