Mysore is one of cleanest Cities

According to ratings released by the Union urban development ministry, Mysore is one of cleanest cities. On the basis of the rating, cities have been classified as Red, Black, Blue and Green — which would denote increasing levels of achievement of good environmental and health outcomes. A Green rating indicates a healthy city; Blue indicates a city recovering but still diseased; Black indicates a city that needs considerable improvement; and Red indicates a city on the brink of public health and environmental ‘emergency’, requiring immediate remedial action.

Chandigarh, one of the most planned cities in the country, topped the rating, and smaller cities Mysore and Surat managed second and third place respectively. Tiruchirapalli, Jamshedpur, Mangalore and Rajkot come in the top 10 list.The ministry has issued a statement that Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy, who released the rankings, would write to all chief ministers to prioritise sanitation, as it is linked to human dignity and well-being.

In one of the most daunting tasks taken up by the ministry, 423 cities and towns with a population of more than one lakh were rated on parameters such as complete elimination of open defecation, elimination of open scavenging, and safe collection and disposal of human excreta. Various expert agencies were involved in assessing the status of sanitation on the spot.

No city in the country could qualify in the Green category,while only four cities — Chandigarh, Mysore, Surat and New Delhi Municipal Council area — are in the Blue category. Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad fall in the Black category. While 229 cities are in the Black category, the remaining 190 fall in the Red category. Of the 38 cities considered from Maharashtra, 27 are in the Black category and 11 in the Red.