Swachh Survekshan 2018: 19 Of The 25 Dirtiest Cities In The Country In West Bengal; Jharkhand Cleanest State

Jharkhand - which was placed among the dirtiest states in the country in the 2016 edition of the Swachh Survekshan - has emerged as the cleanest state in this year’s survey, Hindustan Times has reported.

According to the survey report, which was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Indore on Saturday, 19 out of the 25 dirtiest cities in India are from West Bengal. Cities in the state, including Darjeeling, Siliguri, Madhyamgram, North Barrackpore, Bankura, fared low on all sanitation indicators such as waste collection, open defecation, solid waste processing and disposal.

West Bengal is among the bottom four dirtiest states in the country, followed by Nagaland, Puducherry and Tripura.

West Bengal had not participated in the survey in 2016 and 2017. Criticising the Modi government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2015, West Bengal Chief Minister had said that the scheme is not new and has been implemented in the state in the last 2-3 years under project Nirmal Bangla.

Madhya Pradesh's Indore and Bhopal emerged as the cleanest cities in the country. This is the second consecutive time that Indore has received the tag. Chandigarh and New Delhi emerged as the third and fourth cleanest cities.

Th survey ranked the cities based on of their performance in six parameters - collection and transportation of solid waste, processing and disposal of this waste, progress on sanitation, innovation and best practices adapted by cities.

Cantonments, run by the army, were included in the survey for the first time this year. Delhi Cantonment Board emerged as the cleanest, followed by Almora and Ranikhet cantonments in the second and third positions respectively.