MAHUD Minister hails people as State town bags top awards in Swachh Survekshan 2019
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, March 07 2019: MAHUD Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar has said that it is a proud moment for the State as three towns of the State, namely Thoubal Municipal Council, Wangjing Lamding Municipal Council and Kakching Municipal Council respectively, bagged 'cleanest town' in the North East Zone (less than 1 lakh population) in the pan India cleanliness drive, Swachh Survekshan 2019.Addressing media persons at his office chamber at New Secretariat office, MAHUD Minister Th Shyamkumar said that for the towns with population below 25,000 in the North East Zone, Mayang Imphal Municipal Council bagged the Cleanest City award while Lamlai Nagar Panchayat has been awarded the Best City in Citizen Feedback.

He said that Ningthoukhong Municipal Council has been awarded the Best City in Innovation and Best Practice.

He credited the public, respective councillors and workers for their hard work and motivated other ULBs (Urban Local Bodies) to work harder.

Th Harikumar Singh, Director, MAHUD Department said that it is heartening that the 14 towns of the State have been listed in the first top 20 rankings in the Swachh Survekshan 2019 in the North East Zone.

The top 9 positions have been bagged by Thoubal, Wangjing Lamding, Kakching, Mayang Imphal, Oinam, Jiribam, Lilong, Yairipok and Lamlai.

He further informed that the towns of Kumbi, Heirok and Bishnupur have been listed in the 12th, 13th and 14th position respectively while Nambol and Lilong have bagged the 17th and 18th positions respectively.

Swachh Survekshan 2019 awards were presented by President Ram Nath Kovind and Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs yesterday at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The awards were received by the respective Chairpersons and Executive Officers of the 6 towns led by Director Th Harikumar Singh, Director, MAHUD Department.

The cleanliness survey for the year 2019 covered 4,237 cities in a record time of 28 days, in a completely paperless and digital format for data collection.

Swachh Survekshan exercise was started with the objective of inculcating a spirit of healthy competition among the cities in their race towards becoming India's cleanest cities.

The survey also aims to encourage citizen participation, increase city capacities for sustainable Open Defecation Free (ODF), sanitation ODF measures and to create awareness among all sections of the society about the importance of collective action to contribute in India's journey towards the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Every year, cities and towns across India are awarded with the title of 'Swachh Cities' on the basis of their cleanliness and sanitation drive as a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission that was launched in 2014.The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) conducted the first survey 'Swachh Survekshan 2016' for ranking 73 cities (Urban Local Bodies) in January 2016, under the ambit of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

In order to expand the coverage of cities, the Ministry conducted its second survey 'Swachh Survekshan 2017' in January-February 2017 to rank 434 cities.

'Swachh Survekshan 2018' saw a massive increase in both scale of survey and intensity of participation, with 4,203 cities covered.

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