The government on Thursday announced the results of annual survey of cleanliness, Swachh Survekshan 2020 and Indore once again retained the top spot as the cleanest city of India.

The city has bagged the spot fourth time in a row. Gujarat’s Surat on second spot and Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai on third.

Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri“ said, I visited Indore a few years ago, along with a member of a Japanese delegation. When we reached the city, I saw he Japanese going to various places in Indore. I asked him ‘what are you doing?’ He said ‘I was trying to find filth, but couldn’t’. I don’t think there could be any bigger testimony to the achievement of the city.” He told this to Shivraj Singh Chouhan after Indore won the award.

This is the fifth edition of the survey that was introduced by PM Modi in January 2016.

A total of 129 top performing cities and states were awarded in the virtual programme called ‘Swachh Mahotsav’. This programme has been organised by the ministry of housing and urban affairs.

Swachh Survekshan 2020 covered 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 92 Ganga towns. This survey was carried out in 28 days.

Mysuru had won the award for the cleanest city of India in the first edition of the survey, while Indore has retained the top position for three consecutive years (2017,2018, 2019). In a first, the Swachh Survekshan programme in 2019 was a completely digital survey completed in a record time.

Swachh Survekshan is meant to monitor the performance of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which was launched on October 2, 2014, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It aims to make India open-defecation free by 2019.

The survey was introduced by the government with the objective of generating large-scale participation in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It also aims at inculcating a spirit of healthy competition among cities towards becoming India’s cleanest cities.