LUCKNOW:
UP cities and towns glittered brightly in the
Swachh Survey 2020
with 19 of them bagging awards in different categories in comparison to 14 in 2019 and just three in 2018.
Among them, Lucknow emerged as the brightest with 12th rank among 47 cities with over 10 lakh population assessed in the survey and bagging the “fastest mover state capital” award. Several cities, including Varanasi and Kannuaj, bagged top honours in all the subcategories of the newly introduced “Cleanest Ganga Town” category.
Shahjahanpur and Firozabad were awarded the “Fastest Mover City” title for adopting new technologies for improvement in services.
Among 12 states with 100 or more urban local bodies in the country, UP was placed at seventh rank above Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar. In this category, Chhattisgarh came first, followed by Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat, Punjab and Andhra. Two cantonment boards of UP were also awarded - Mathura Cantonment -- was adjudged “Best Cantonment in Innovation” and Meerut Cantonment as “Cleanest Cantonment”.
7 cities from UP among 47 in countryThe rankings were released by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MOHUA) on Thursday and based on a cleanliness survey after dividing cities and towns into categories based on their population.
The award ceremony was held virtually and was presided over by MOHUA minister Hardeep Puri. UP urban development minister Ashutosh Tandon was also present.
Also, in 2019, 406 cities with above 1 lakh population were assessed under a single category, but this year the latter was divided into two—one with cities having 1-10 lakh population and another for above 10 lakh.
Seven cities from UP figured among 47 with over 10 lakh population—Lucknow (12th rank), Agra (16th), Ghaziabad (19th) Prayagraj (20th), Kanpur (25th), Varanasi (27th), and Meerut (41st).
Last year, these places were assessed among 406 cities.
Lucknow improved its score to 78% in comparison to 55% last year. Agra scored 73% against 59% last year.
There was a marginal increase for Kanpur and Varanasi. However, Ghaziabad’s performance declined.
About 60 UP towns found place among 382 assessed under the category of municipal corporation, municipalities and other urban local bodies with 1-10 lakh population.
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