Gujarat is 'Fastest Mover State'

Four cities in Gujarat were heralded for their cleanliness and won the state the Fast Mover State in sanitation as the Swachh Survekshan 2019 awards were announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Wednesday

The big four – Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Gandhinagar – were among the top five cleanest cities in the country and were congratulated on several fronts. Ahmedabad, which ranked 12th in the category last year, received an award for being the 'Cleanest Big City' in the category of a population over 10 lakh, while Surat was crowned the best city for Solid Waste Management across the nation.

Small towns ruled the award categories of the West Zone. Visavadar was named the 'Fastest Mover City' among towns with a population of less than one lakh. Talala was the 'Fastest Mover City' in the category of population up to 25,000. Bagasara was the 'Fastest Mover City' among cities with a population between 25,000 to 50,000. Upleta was named 'Fastest Mover City' in the category of a population between 50,000 to one lakh.

Six cities and towns have climbed up the cleanliness ladder since last year: Rajkot rose up to number 9 from its 35th spot last year, while Gandhinagar improved its 26th rank to 22. However, Vadodara slipped to 79 from last year's 44, and Surat retained its 14th position.

Clean sweep

Indore kept its top spot as India’s cleanest city for the third consecutive year. The Survekshan evaluated 4,237 cities over 28 days, taking into account over six lakh locations