Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Taking a significant step towards retaining the cleanest city tag for the seventh time in a row, Indore bagged 7-star rating and water+ tag for the second consecutive year in the certification category, which is one of the parameters of Swachh Survekshan-2023.
Last year, Indore was the only city to have secured a 7-star rating under Garbage Free City Protocol. However, this year Surat and Navi Mumbai also managed to get a 7-star rating, making the competition tougher.
The results of Swachh Survekshan 2023 were released on Saturday night by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The ranking of the cleanest cities will be announced on January 11. This time, Bhopal has received a 5-star rating.
Swachh Survekshan-2023 is of total 9500 marks, including 4830 marks (51 percent) for Service Level Progress, 2500 marks (26 percent) for Certification and 2170 marks (23 percent) for Citizens Voice category.
Garbage Free Star Rating certificate and open defecation/water+ certificates are given under Certification category. Seven star-rating is the highest rating under GFC category, whereas Water+ certificate is in the other category.
Around 158 urban local bodies (ULBs) of the state received star ratings under garbage free cities certification. Last year, only 99 ULBs had received the certification.
Indore, Bhopal, Mhow Cantonment, Amarkantak, Nowrozabad and Budhni of the state will be honoured at the national level. Apart from this, Madhya Pradesh will also be honoured as a state.
The results of star rating of open defecation free (ODF) and water plus ULCs have also been released. According to the results, the state has once again achieved a big feat. Around 378 ULBs of the state had participated in the Cleanliness Survey 2023.
361 ULBs get ODF++ status
The number of ULBs receiving ODF++ certificate has now increased to 361. It was 324 till last year. Six cities of the state have received the prestigious Water Plus certification for sewage management this year. In the previous year, only Indore and Bhopal had received this honour. This time, apart from Indore and Bhopal, Dewas, Ujjain, Gwalior, Budhni and Dharampuri have also received the honour. To permanently stop open defecation in the state, individual toilets have been constructed and provided to more than 5,79,000 needy families. Besides, more than 2,500 public toilet complexes have also been constructed.
‘We are committed to cleanliness’
Elated over the state’s performance, urban development minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said, “Our cities are continuously working hard. Apart from this, our sanitation workers, common citizens and public representatives actively supported the cleanliness of the state. We are committed to cleanliness, health and prosperity of the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. This is just a beginning, we have to make joint and continuous efforts for this.”
‘State’s performance inspiring’
Stressing on continuous efforts to maintain cleanliness in the state, UAD principal secretary Neeraj Mandloi said, “We have made continuous efforts to maintain cleanliness in the state. We laid emphasis on sanitation infrastructure development, capacity building of the team and public participation. The state's excellent performance in ODF and star rating results is inspiring us to do even better work.”
‘Outcome of hard work of all stakeholders’
UAD commissioner Bharat Yadav said, “Various teams, Safai Mitras and associates of all our cities have worked very hard. Apart from this, citizens and public representatives extended their support.”
