Swachh Survekshan survey: Varanasi among 10 least clean cities

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Varanasi, is among the 10 least clean cities in India, as per the first survey after the launch of 'Swachh Bharat' mission in 2014.

On the other hand, for the second time in a row, Mysuru was ranked cleanest city, followed by Chandigarh, Tiruchirappalli and NDMC area of the national capital.

Meanwhile, Dhanbad in Jharkhand has been ranked the worst.

The survey, which was released by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu here, covered 73 cities including 51 cities with more than 10 lakh population on cleanliness and sanitation.

"Swachh Survekshan-2016 is primarily intended to measure the impact of the efforts under Swachh Bharat Mission launched after the survey of 2014," Naidu said.

Other cities which have found place in 10 cleanest category in the Survey, conducted by Quality Council of India, include Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Surat (Gujarat), Rajkot (Gujarat), Gangtok (Sikkim), Pimpri-Chindwad (Maharashtra) and Greater Maharashtra.

The least clean cities included Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Asansol (West Bengal), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Patna (Bihar), Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Kalyan Dombivili (Maharashtra).
 Cities from South and West continue to do well overall but those in other parts of the country, particularly, in the North are beginning to catch up with the traditional leaders, Naidu said.

"The results of the survey were analysed to identify the top leaders, aspiring leaders, cities where accelerated efforts need to be made and the slow movers," he added.

Last cleanliness survey was conducted in 2014 among 476 cities with a population of one lakh and above and its results were announced last year. That survey was done before the launch of 'Swachh Bharat' mission'.

"This (ranking) is meant to help the cities know where they stand in absolute terms and in relation to others besides what more needs to be done by each city to ensure sanitation.

In that sense, the survey is more holistic, participatory, purposeful and meaningful for future guidance and evolving course of action," the minister added. 

(With Agency inputs)