Mumbai, May 16: The cities – Indore, Bhopal, and Chandigarh – were declared as the cleanest cities in the country, earlier today, as per a government’s initiative – Swacch Survekshan 2018. Announcing the list of top cleanest cities in the country, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, congratulated the citizens of Indore & Bhopal for their repeat performance, of ranking 1 and 2, this year.

Talking at a press conference, the Hardeep Singh Puri said, “Looking at the way big winning cities had turned the Swacchta into a Jan Andolan, I am not surprised at the results. Others will surely try & catch up next year.”

Sharing his experiences about travelling the world himself, he said, “I've lived in some of the cleanest cities in the world during my long stay abroad and I must tell you that the cleanliness levels in Indore and Bhopal give them a run for their money.”

The numbers do the talking: 79 percent of respondents from over 4,000 cities had reported improvement in the context of cleanliness. Puri said, “I would call these results as ‘Citizen’s Verdict’ on sanitation in urban areas given the scale and eagerness of citizen’s participation.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked-off Swachh Bharat Abhiyan amidst huge fanfare after coming to power in the year 2014. Since then a lot has been done by both the government and the citizens on the front of cleanliness in their surroundings and society at large.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 16, 2018 11:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).