''Swachh Survekshan'' ( lit. Cleanliness survey) is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in villages, cities and towns across India. It was launched as part of the

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. It is a restructured version of ...

, which aimed to make India clean and free of

open defecation Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outdoors ("in the open") rather than into a toilet. People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals, or other open spaces for defecation. They do so either because they do ...

by 2 October 2019. The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities (53 cities with a population of over a million, and all state capitals); by 2020 the survey had grown to cover 4242 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. The surveys are carried out by

Quality Council of India The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up as a public private partnership model on the model existing in Netherlands at the time, where although the NAB was not owned by the government, yet it was supported by it and was exceedingly used as a ...

Survey methodology

The survey is carried out by the

, which in 2020 covered 4242 cities and towns, It include 5 Lakhs+ ULB Document Evidence captured, 24 Lakhs+ Geotagged Photos captured from field and feedback from 1.9 crore people Survey in 2020 was weighted on 6000 points. The criteria and weightages for different components of sanitation related aspects used for the survey were: a) Service Level Progress-1300 marks b) Citizen feedback – 1500 marks c) Direct observation – 1500 marks d) GFC (SWM) 1,000 Marks; ODF /ODF+ / ODF++ 500 Marks e) Average ranking of Quarterly Assessments (April 2019 to June 2019, July 2019 to Sep 2019, Oct 2019 to Dec 2019)-200 Marks

Highlights

In the 2020 survey

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

, in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, is India’s cleanest city. *

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, Ranked second cleanest city of india and was followed by

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city is ...

. *

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

was adjudged the ‘best Ganga town’ in the central government’s cleanliness survey. * A total of 1.9 crore citizens across 4,242 cities of the country participated in the survey held by the

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is a ministry of the Government of India with executive authority over the formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in Ind ...

. * The survey focused on collection segregated waste and maintenance till processing site, treatment and reuse of wastewater, curtailing solid waste-based air pollution, among other factors.

In the 2017 survey

, in

, was India’s cleanest city and Gonda, in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, was the filthiest * Of 10 cleanest cities, two were are from

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

each, while

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and

each had one * Out of 10 dirtiest cities,

had five cities, two each were from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, and one from

* 118 out of 500 cities were found to be Open Defecation Free * 297 cities had 100% door to door collection of garbage * 37 lakh citizens showed interest in Swachh Surveksan * There were 404 cities in which at least 75% of residential areas were found substantially clean *

had 12 cities among the top 50 cleanest, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 11 and Andhra Pradesh with eight * Four of the dirtiest cities were in

and 50 of the state's towns were ranked 305 and below

Pre-evaluation results

Kota city

The Swachh Sarvekshan survey experts gave a score of 525 out of 6000 to the municipal corporation of Kota. Kota, a city in Rajasthan that is famous for its IIT and Medical coaching centres, is seriously criticized by Swachhta Mission. The city is located at the bank of the Chambal River and is home to six government universities, Rajasthan Technical University, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), University of Kota, Agriculture University, Vardhman Mahaveer Open University, and Agriculture University. None of these institutions initiated any research projects to alleviate such endangered situation and disruptions. Every day tons of garbage and chemical materials are disposed directly into the Chambal river. The National Brand Ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission Dr. DP Sharma evaluated the status of the city after the latest evaluation and also criticized the city's Municipal Corporation for its Swachhta management. According to his evaluation the city scored 545 marks out of 6000 point scale. Dainik Bhaskar, a regional newspaper also covered the issue and took stock of the cleanliness of the city. The next day more than 49 NGOs and social activists mobilized public-private institutions and individuals to take the oath to keep the city neat and clean. A local career centre in the city has created a separate cleanness brigade to support the Swachhta mission and clean the city's roads and crematoriums.

Survey results

According to the 2020 survey, Swachh Survekshan Results 2020:

retained its position as the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Swachh Survekshan 2020 survey results. While Gujarat’s

bagged the second spot, Maharashtra’s

ranked third.

was adjudged the ‘best Ganga town’ in the central government’s cleanliness survey.

References

{{reflist Water supply and sanitation in India