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Swachh Survekshan 2023: Kashi, Prayagraj ‘Cleanest Ganga Towns’, 65 U.P. cities garbage-free
“U.P. has made history as it is the first time that two major cities in the state have received national awards. Not only that, out of the 13 cities receiving national awards, two are from Uttar Pradesh.”
Varanasi secured the top spot and Prayagraj was second best as the ‘Cleanest Ganga Towns’ nationwide in the Swachh Survekshan 2023 results even as 65 Uttar Pradesh cities were adjudged garbage-free, a marked increase from 2021 when only five cities in the state had bagged the status.
Furthermore, all cities in Uttar Pradesh have become open defecation free this year.
The awards instituted by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs were given away by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony organised at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
“U.P. has made history as it is the first time that two major cities in the state have received national awards. Not only that, out of the 13 cities receiving national awards, two are from Uttar Pradesh,” the state’s urban development minister AK Sharma said after receiving the awards on behalf of the state government.
He credited the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the achievement.
“We will do even better next year,” Sharma said.
There were more accolades for U.P. as Varanasi also received a three-star Garbage-Free City rating, and Prayagraj was awarded the Water Plus City status.
A city is declared ‘Water Plus’ when all wastewater released from households, commercial establishments, drains and nullahs is treated as per Central Pollution Control Bureau (CPCB) norms, before releasing the treated wastewater to the environment.
Additionally, three cities from U.P, namely Barwar, Anupshahr and Gajraula, received the Clean City North Zone award. Noida received the state-level Clean City award in the population category of one lakh.
Among the 65 garbage-free cities in UP, 56 are one-star, eight three-star, and one five-star city.
“U.P. aims to achieve certification for several more GFCs this year,” state government officials said.
In various categories of ODF, two urban local bodies (ULBs) have obtained water plus certification for the first time, a recognition that was not achieved by any ULB before.
In other ODF categories, 129 ULBs have been certified as ODF++ (the next highest certification) and 435 ULBs have been certified as ODF+ compared to 40 last year and only seven in 2021. Furthermore, 435 ULBs have been certified as ODF+, while their numbers were 411 last year and a mere 269 in 2021.
An ODF+ village or city is one that has sustained its ODF status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. ODF++ status means that along with fulfilling the above conditions, the faecal, sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated with no discharge/dumping of untreated faecal sludge and sewage in drains, water bodies and open areas.
“With these certifications in all categories, all the cities of U.P. have now become ODF,” government officials said.
“U.P. has made notable progress in GFC and ODF in the past two years. This, year 65 cities in U.P. have been certified as garbage-free, compared to only five cities in 2021. This represents a remarkable 13-fold increase in two years,” said principal secretary, urban development, Amrit Abhijat on Thursday.
