Mysore in Karnataka has topped the Swachh Bharat rankings of 476 cities in the country based on the extent of open defecation and solid waste management practices, a statement from the Ministry of Urban Development said.
Mysore leads the pack with minimal open defecation and extensive adoption of solid waste management practices, followed by Tiruchi (Tamil Nadu), Navi Mumbai, Kochi (Kerala), Hassan, Mandya and Bengaluru from Karnataka, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Halisahar (West Bengal) and Gangtok (Sikkim) in that order.
Among the top 100 cities, 39 cities were from the South, 27 from the East, 15 from the West, 12 from the North and 7 from the North-Eastern States, the statement added.
North performed poorly accounting for 74 cities in the bottom 100, while 21 were from the East, 3 from the West and 2 from the South, the statement said.
The worst performer was Damoh (Madhya Pradesh), preceded by Bhind (Madhya Pradesh), Palwal and Bhiwani, both in Haryana, Chittaurgarh (Rajasthan), Bulandshahar (Uttar Pradesh), Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh), Rewari(Haryana), Hindaun (Rajasthan) and Sambalpur in Odisha.
The survey conducted during 2014-15 was commissioned by the Ministry of Urban Development as required under the National Sanitation Policy of 2008.
All 476 Class-1 cities in 31 States and Union Territories, each with a population of above one lakh, were surveyed for assessing total sanitation practices covering a set of parameters, including the extent of open defecation, solid waste management, septage management, waste water treatment, drinking water quality, surface water quality of water bodies and mortality due to water born diseases.