Bengaluru, Mysuru, K.R. Nagar and Periyapatna in the awardee list

Mysore/Mysuru: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has completed the analysis and computations of results for Swachh Survekshan-2021, Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge and applications for garbage-free cities.

In a statement, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said that in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a garbage-free India under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, cities certified under the star rating protocol for garbage-free cities will also be awarded at the ceremony.

The ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ being organised on Saturday will also pay tribute to sanitation workers by recognising top performing cities under the “Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge” earlier initiated by the Ministry, it stated.

 The results will be declared at an event — Swachh Amrit Mahotsav — to be held tomorrow in New Delhi at Vigyan Bhavan where President of India Ram Nath Kovind will do the honours. As per the list made available to the media, Mysuru figures in the list of awardees along with Bengaluru for an award that will be known only tomorrow after the announcement.

Eight places in Karnataka will receive the award and along with Mysuru and Bengaluru, places including K.R. Nagar, Periyapatna, Hubballi-Dharwad, Mudhol, Hosadurga and Kumta figure in the list. 

From Mysuru, Mayor Sunanda Palanetra, Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy, Senior Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraj and Executive Engineer, UGD, Sindhu are attending the awards ceremony and they have left for New Delhi yesterday.

The Ministry said that from surveying 73 major cities in 2016, the sixth edition of Swachh Survekshan covers 4,320 cities, making it the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey.

“The success of this year’s survey can be gauged through the unprecedented number of citizen feedback received this year — over 5 crore, a marked increase from last year’s 1.87 crore. The 2021 edition was conducted in record time of 28 days despite several on-ground challenges owing to the COVID pandemic,” according to the statement. 

Talking about the ‘Swachh Survekshan-2021’, the Ministry said that there have been significant on-ground improvements in performance of States and cities, as compared to the previous year.

For example, more than 1,100 additional cities have started source segregation and nearly 1,800 additional urban local bodies have started extending welfare benefits to their sanitation workers.

More than 1,500 additional urban local bodies have notified a ban on the use, sale and storage of non-biodegradable plastic bags. In all, more than 3,000 ULBs have notified this ban, the Ministry added.