Swachh Survekshan: Vizag, Vijayawada and Tirupati retain their ranks in top-10 list
The Hindu
Swachh Survekshan: Vizag, Vijayawada and Tirupati retain their ranks in top-10 list. While Visakhapatnam, which has secured 4th rank, is declared the ‘cleanest city’ in the State, Vijayawada and Tirupati have been given 5-star rating in garbage disposal, securing 6th and 8th rank respectively. Andhra Pradesh is the only State in the South to have four cities in the top 20 of the All India Clean Cities category.
Three cities from Andhra Pradesh — Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati — retained their positions in the top 10 of the All India Clean Cities category in the Swachh Survekshan, the Central government’s annual survey, the results of which were declared on January 11.
Visakhapatnam was declared the “cleanest city” in the State, and retained the 4th rank it had achieved in 2022 under the All India Clean Cities (population more than 1 lakh) category.
Vijayawada was given the 5-star rating for its efforts in garbage disposal and secured the 6th rank, beating both New Delhi and Hyderabad, which stood at 7th and 9th positions respectively.
The eighth place went to Tirupati, which was also given the 5-star rating for garbage disposal.
The State received five awards this time, and since 2019, the three cities had been featuring in the top 10 clean cities list.
The other cities in the State that secured top positions were as follows: Guntur (2nd rank in the Fast Moving City category (more than one lakh population) and Pulivendula (State’s Best Performer and Clean City in the category of less than a lakh population). Guntur (national rank 20), Kurnool (national rank 32), Kadapa (national rank 58) and Rajahmundry (national rank 59) feature in the top 100 cities with more than 1 lakh population.
Andhra Pradesh is the only State in the South to have four cities in the top 20 of the All India Clean Cities category.
According to the “2023: World Air Quality Report”, India is the third most polluted nation globally and Delhi the most polluted capital city. Though Bengaluru (Rank 673) stands nowhere close to the topmost polluted cities, increasing temperature, irregular rains, growing population and infrastructure are leading to a slow change in the water and air quality of the garden city.