New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh’s Indore becomes India’s cleanest city once again. The city has bagged this accolade for the seventh consecutive year, as per the Swachh Survekshan 2023 – the annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation that is happening in India since the year 2016. For the first time, Gujarat’s Surat also emerged as the joint winner of the title.
The results of Swachh Survekshan, which is conducted by the union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) were announced today (January 11) by President Draupadi Murmu at a function held in the Capital.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the Swachh Survekshan conducted with wide participation is an important step towards raising the level of cleanliness. She appreciated all for moving forward on the path of ‘Cleanliness to Prosperity’.
Also Read: Indore Bags Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2023 Award For Cleanest Air
Other Winners From Swachh Survekshan Awards
Navi Mumbai which came third in last year’s awards, retained its position.While, Maharashtra’s Saswad got the cleanest city award for urban centres with less than 1 lakh population. Patan in Chattisgarh and Lonavla in Maharashtra were the second and third cleanest cities in this category.
Varanasi and Prayagraj were adjudged cleanest Ganga Towns. MHOW Cantonment Board in Madhya Pradesh was given the award for cleanest cantonment town.
Officials at the MoHUA said that the primary goal of Swachh Survekshan was to encourage large-scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in.
This year is the eighth year of the survey and a total of 3,000 assessors conducted the assessment of more than 4,500 cities across 46 indicators. Some of the indicators that were used in this year’s awards included segregated door-to-door waste collection, zero waste events, disabled-friendly toilets, improved plastic waste management.
Talking about the importance of the survey, President Draupadi Murmu said that she is happy to note that cleanliness campaigns like Swachh Survekshan are creating opportunities for economic self-reliance of women. She added,
Circular economy methods of recycling and reusing more and more goods are proving helpful for sustainable development. Such a system will prove to be very useful in the field of waste management also. If we deeply consider the concept of Value from Waste, it becomes clear that everything is valuable, nothing is waste. This holistic and progressive thinking works behind making bio-gas from green waste and generating electricity from Refuse Derived Fuel.
Also Read: Indore Hotel Management Institute Prepares Edible Crockery From Millets To Replace Plastic
Value from Waste की धारणा पर गहराई से विचार करें तो जाहिर होता है कि हर चीज valuable है, कुछ भी waste नहीं है। Green waste से bio-gas बनाने और Refuse Derived Fuel से बिजली पैदा करने के पीछे यही समग्र और प्रगतिशील सोच काम करती है।
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 11, 2024
अधिक से अधिक वस्तुओं को re-cycle और re-use करने की circular economy की पद्धतियां sustainable development के लिए सहायक सिद्ध हो रही हैं। Waste management के क्षेत्र में भी ऐसी प्रणाली अत्यंत उपयोगी सिद्ध होगी। pic.twitter.com/mmFHOuLpaH
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 11, 2024
The President also said that India’s ‘Safai Mitras’ have been the frontline soldiers of the cleanliness campaign and mentioned that the government is taking effective steps to ensure the safety, dignity and welfare of Safai Mitras. She said that only by eliminating manholes through mechanized cleaning and achieving the goal of sanitation through machine-holes we will be able to establish our true identity as a sensitive society. The President also said that about one-third of our population live in urban areas and added,
Cleanliness of cities and towns is essential for our health and development. Our huge amount of urban land is buried under mountains of garbage, which are extremely harmful for the health of the population. I am happy to note that such dump-sites are being eliminated under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and soon the target of zero dump-sites will be achieved.
The President said that youth are our most important stakeholders in India’s cleanliness fight and signed off by saying,
If the young generation decides to keep all the cities and the entire country clean, then India of 2047 will certainly celebrate its centenary of independence by being included among the cleanest countries in the world. Therefore, I urge all the youth of the country to move forward with the big goal of making India the cleanest country in the world.
मैं देश के सभी युवाओं से आग्रह करती हूं कि वे भारत को विश्व का सबसे साफ-सुथरा देश बनाने के बड़े लक्ष्य के साथ आगे बढ़ें और स्वर्णिम भारत का निर्माण करें। pic.twitter.com/zw0brMz5ZD
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 11, 2024
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
