After lagging behind for many years, Uttar Pradesh created a record of sorts when the state won two major awards out of 12 and its 19 civic bodies got top ranks in the Swachh Sarvekshan, 2020, the results of which were announced on Thursday.
“This is a big achievement for the state as it won two major and 19 minor awards. Many cities have done exceptionally well in the survey,” Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said here on Thursday.
Many cities with more than 10 lakh population have shown improvement in their ranking as compared to previous years. Lucknow got 12th rank, Agra 16th, Ghaziabad 19th, Prayagraj 20th, Kanpur 25th and Varanasi 27th rank in the survey.
Yogi said the government was giving special attention to cleanliness and therefore it was implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission in letter and spirit. He said during the unlock, the government had ensured sanitisation of market and public places on Saturdays and Sundays.
In an attempt to keep a separate track of the towns and cities which are situated on the banks of the Ganga river, the Centre also issued a separate list of top performing Ganga towns.
Among the large Gangetic cities, Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, topped the list followed by megacity Kanpur Nagar. Prayagraj, where the mighty river Yamuna converges on the Ganga, also secured the fourth rank.
Besides, 19 civic bodies have been felicitated, including Varanasi, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow, Firozabad, Kannauj, Chunar, Gangaghat, Awagarh, Meerut Cantonment, Gajraula, Muradnagar, Syana, Palia Kalan, Mallawan, Barua, Sagar, Baldev, Achchlda and Mathura Cantonment.
In 2018, only three civic bodies had won awards in Swachh Sarvekshan while in 2019 this number rose to 14 and this year 19 civic bodies have won laurels, the chief minister said.
“The main reason for this jump in ranking is that UP has completed the target to construct toilets. Around 60,000 community toilets have been built while special Pink toilets have been constructed for women. The state has been declared Open Defecation-Free (ODF) and the same has been verified through Quality Council of India (QCI),” Yogi said.
He said 413 civic bodies in UP were ODF+ and 17 municipal corporations had got the ranking of ODF++.
The main function was held in Delhi where Union Minister Hardeep Puri declared the awards. In Lucknow, Urban Development Minister Ashutosh Tandon, Chief secretary RK Tiwari and other senior officials attended the function.