Madhya Pradesh came out with flying colours as the state located in the heart of the nation bagged top honours in the Swaach Bharat survey carried out by the government of India. Indore bagged a hat trick of sorts for being awarded the cleanest city in the nation for a third successive year. Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal emerged atop as the cleanliest state capital while Ujjain was awarded India’s cleanest medium city (population 3-10 lakh).

Congratulating Indore, Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, “Absolutely Brilliant! Indore is India’s Cleanest City for the 3rd year running. My heartiest congratulations to the Swachhagrahis of Indore for their unmatched dedication & participation in transforming Swachh Bharat into a Jan Andolan.”

The Swachh Survekshan awards 2019 were conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday in New Delhi at a ceremony. The cleanliness awards are given by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The survey covered 4,237 cities in a record time of 28 days and was in a completely paperless, digital format for data collection. Swachh Survekshan was conducted in January 2019.

Among states, Chhattisgarh bagged the award for being the cleanest, followed by Jharkhand and Maharashtra. While the New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the ‘Cleanest Small City’ award, Delhi Cantt. is India’s cleanest cantonment area.

Ahmedabad is India’s cleanest big city (population >10 lakh). Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged the ‘Best Ganga Town’.

“On my last few visits to Ahmedabad I could clearly see the efforts that the city had put into making Swachh Bharat a huge success. The people of the city have proven me right today as Ahmedabad is India’s cleanest big city (>10 lakhs) in #SwachhSurvekshan2019. Congratulations!,” tweeted Puri.