NEW DELHI: A first-ever survey of sanitation standards in 75 districts of rural India has found Sindhudurg in Maharashtra the cleanest in the country, with 99% households using toilets.
Among the other top cleanest districts in the plains were Nadia (West Bengal), Satara (Maharashtra), Midnapore East (West Bengal) and Kolhapur (Maharashtra).
For the 2016 Swachh Survekshan, the results for which were released on Thursday, 75 of the 640 cleanest districts were identified based on how they have performed on various sanitation indicators since October 2, 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission. Of the 75 districts, 53 are located in the plains, 22 are in hill states and the North-East.
These districts were then ranked on four parameters: access to toilets, usage, littering in public places, and households having stagnant waste water in their premises.
Three districts in the PM’s home state of Gujarat — Ahmedabad, Anand and Panchmahal — were found lagging on all four parameters among the 53 districts located in the plains, with poor access to sanitation facilities, litter in public places and stagnant waste water.
As many as 13 of the 53 districts chosen were from Gujarat while none of the districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could make the cut.
{{/usCountry}}As many as 13 of the 53 districts chosen were from Gujarat while none of the districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could make the cut.
{{/usCountry}}Dungarpur, Pali and Ajmer in Rajasthan were found to be laggards — all three are ranked in the bottom five.
“The ranking aims to make sure that the knowledge of best practices is spread and a sense of competitiveness is triggered among states and districts,” said Parameswaran Iyer, secretary, ministry of drinking water and sanitation.
The survey, commissioned by the ministry of drinking water and sanitation, also ranked 26 states based on the 2015 NSSO data on two parameters — availability of toilets and their usage.
Sikkim, Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland claimed the top five spots, with toilet usage ranging from 88% to 98%. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha fared the worst, with just 17% to 24% households having access to sanitation facilities.
The urban development ministry, which is implementing the programme in urban India, conducted a similar survey twice in cities and towns.
Of the 22 districts in hilly and north-eastern states that were surveyed, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh is the cleanest and Anjaw in Arunachal Pradesh was ranked at the bottom.