Chhattisgarh awarded for being India’s ‘Cleanest State’

The state secures top rank for cleanliness for the third time in a row.

New Delhi: Chhattisgarh was on Saturday awarded with the national award for being the “Cleanest State” in the country. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel received the award at the hands of President Ram Nath Kovind at the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav held at Vigyan Bhawan here.
Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State Kaushal Kishore were present at the function. Chhattisgarh Urban Development Minister Dr Shiv Kumar Dahariya, Chhattisgarh Urban Administration and Development Secretary Alarmelmangai D, Additional chief secretary Subrat Sahu, Resident Commissioner M Geeta and Mission Director and CEO SUDA Saumil Ranjan Chaubey also attended the function.
Chhattisgarh has been given the award for maintaining its status as the cleanest state. Apart from the state, its 67 urban bodies will also be rewarded for their excellent performance, the highest number of urban bodies in any state. Chhattisgarh was also a leading state in terms of cleanliness in the year 2019 and 2020. Chhattisgarh is the only state where, more than 9,000 cleanliness “didis” are collecting 1,600 tonnes of wet and dry waste from houses and scientifically disposing them off. The Centre has also been declared Chhattisgarh as the first ODF plus plus state of the country. Raipur, Patan, Bhilai Charoda, Birgaon (M), Chirmiri, Bhatapara, Kawardha, Bemetara, Jashpur Nagar, Dipka, Dornapal, Chandrapur, Utai, Abhanpur etc are some of the cities of which were also awarded at the function in different categories.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conducts the annual cleanliness survey in all cities and states. The survey is done through third party assessment under various parameters such as citizens’ feedback on door-to-door garbage collection, scientific disposal of waste, open defecation free city and garbage free city etc. On the basis of the assessment, ranking of states and cities are done. The best performing states and cities are rewarded.

Mayors receive award

Raipur Mayor Ejaz Dhebar, Ambikapur Mayor Ajay Tirkey, Bhilai Charoda Mayor Chandrakant Mandle, Bilaspur Mayor Ramsharan Yadav, Chirmiri Mayor Kanchan Jaiswal, Raigarh Mayor Janki Amrit Katju, Korba Mayor Rajkishore Prasad, Rajnandgaon Mayor Hemasudesh Deshmukh, Durg Mayor Dheeraj Bakliwal as well as Municipal Commissioners, Municipality Presidents, Chief Municipal Officers, Nodal Officers were awarded for Clean Survey, Garbage Free City.