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 the 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.

Congratulating the people of Indore, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the city has hit a four this time and surely will hit a six in the coming future.

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

The Minister interacted with selected beneficiaries, swachhagrahis (Clean India Warriors), and Safai Karmis (Sanitation Workers) under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) from different parts of the country through video conference.

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.

While Gujarat’s Surat bagged the second spot, Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai ranked third. Varanasi was adjudged the ‘best Ganga town’ in the central government’s cleanliness survey.

A total of 1.9 crore citizens across 4,242 cities of the country participated in the survey held by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.