Swachh Survekshan: Shillong, Dimapur, & Itanagar among top 10 dirtiest cities in India

Guwahati: In a concerning development, several of the bigger Northeast Indian cities been ranked poorly in the Swachh Survekshan 2020, the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness survey of the country carried out by the Central Government.

In the list that was published today, 3 cities from the region -- Shillong (Meghalaya), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) and Dimapur (Nagaland) have been ranked among the top 10 dirtiest cities of the country. All these cities fall under the category of "population below 10 lakh).

The bottom 10 are as follows:

1. Gaya

2. Buxar

3. Abohar

4. Bhagalpur

5. Parsa Bazaar

6. Shillong

7. Itanagar

8. Dimapur

9. Bihar Sharif

10. Saharsa

Indore in Madhya Pradesh retained its position as the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive year.

In terms of cleanliness, Gangtok ranked highest among Northeast Indian cities by securing the 319th rank in the Swachh Survekshan 2020.

On the other hand, Kohima, Aizawl, Imphal, Agartala, Guwahati, Itanagar, and Shillong ranked 330, 337, 348, 356, 376, 377 and 325, respectively.

Notably, Mokokchung was awarded the Cleanest City in North East India under the Population of 25 to 50 Thousand Catagory.

Meanwhile, Jorhat from Assam for being awarded 1st place in the "Cleanest City (Population between 50,000-1,00,000) North-East Zone.

Hardeep S Puri, MoS(I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has stated that "Swachh Survekshan will continue to help us in sustaining the gains made under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), while providing a comprehensive roadmap to institutionalize the concept of total Swachhata among all our cities.

As the performance of cities rightly show, we are well on our way to creating not just a 'Swachh' (clean) but a 'Swasth' (healthy), 'Sashakt' (empowered), 'Sampann' (prosperous) and Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) New India!".

Puri also gave away the awards for Swachh Survekshan 2020, the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness urban survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India at a virtual event titled Swachh Mahotsav organized by MoHUA.

While Indore won the coveted title of the Cleanest City of India, Surat and Navi Mumbai won the second and third position respectively (in the > 1 lakh population category). Chhattisgarh won the prestigious title of the Cleanest State of India in the > 100 ULB category while Jharkhand was adjudged the Cleanest State of India in the <100 ULB category. An additional 117 awards were also handed over by the Minister.