What worked, and what didn't, for the Capital in cleanliness rankings

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) was judged to be seventh cleanest region nationally among local bodies with more than 100,000 population, and the cleanest city within Union territories, according to the Swachh Survekshan report released by the Union ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Thursday.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) area, which covers more than 94% of city's geographical area, was ranked 90 out of 446 urban local bodies in the category of cities with a population of more than 100,000, while the Delhi Cantonment Board area slipped two spots-ranking seventh out of 61 - in the cantonment category To be sure, this was the first Swachh Survekshan for the unified MCD, set up by merging North, South and East MCDs in May 2022.

This year's survey also carried changed baseline levels, with urban local bodies being eligible to earn 9,500 points in various categories in comparison to 7,500 points in the 2022 version of the survey. Additionally, the latest survey clubbed urban local bodies in two categories-cities with more than 100,000 and those with populations fewer than this number. In contrast, for the 2022 assessment, cities were divided into two buckets: one with 100,000 to 1 million population, and the other with over a million population. Under the 2023 Swachh Survekshan, Indore and Surat secured the joint top positions, with both securing 9,348.39 out of 9,500 points. In comparison, NDMC was awarded 8,728.30 points while MCD got 6,114.70 points.

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