Indore, once again, secured the title of the cleanest city in India, sharing the honor with Surat in the 'Swachh Survekshan Awards' presented by President Draupadi Murmu on Thursday. Indore has now clinched this prestigious award for the seventh time.

In the Swachh Survekshan Awards-2023, President Droupadi Murmu declared Indore and Surat as the co-winners for the cleanest cities in India. The prestigious awards were presented at the Bharat Mandapam on Thursday. This marks the seventh consecutive win for Indore and the first time Surat secured the top position, albeit jointly.

In the category of 'best-performing states,' Maharashtra was recognized as the cleanest state in the nation, with Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh securing the second and third positions, respectively. In the previous annual survey, Madhya Pradesh claimed the cleanest state title. Navi Mumbai maintained its position in third place in the 'Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023.'

The states at the bottom of the list include Rajasthan, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. According to the survey findings, Sasvad in Maharashtra secured the cleanest city award among 3,970 cities with a population of less than one lakh.

Patan in Chhattisgarh and Lonavala in Maharashtra claimed the second and third positions, respectively, while Pungro in Nagaland was ranked last in this category.

Varanasi was recognized as the cleanest 'Ganga town,' followed by Prayagraj, Bijnor, Haridwar, Kannauj, Patna, Rishikesh, Kanpur, Rajmahal, and Sahiganj. Among the 88 Ganga towns, Chhapra held the last position.

In the category of cleanest cantonment boards, Mhow in Madhya Pradesh secured the top spot, with Deolali in Nashik and Ahmedabad occupying the other two positions.

The Swachh Survekshan survey stands at the core of the Union government's Swachh Bharat mission, a significant initiative launched by the Narendra Modi government in its early years in office. In its eighth edition, the survey employed 3,000 assessors who covered 4,500 cities (3,970 have a population of fewer than 100,000 people). These assessors documented a city's performance on 46 parameters, encompassing aspects such as waste collection, accessible toilets, and enhanced plastic waste management.