The state of Andhra Pradesh performed well in the central government's Swachh Survekshan rankings with three cities figuring in the top 10 list.  

Vijayawada was ranked 5th in the country followed by Tirupati and Visakhapatnam at 6th and 7th ranks respectively in the more than one lakh population category. 

According to media reports, state Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana said in a release that the state got 19 ranks among the top 200 clean cities and 31 among the top 300 cities, which included cities like Ongole and Chittoor.

The respective municipal authorities received the awards on Saturday at Indore from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

‘’It’s a proud moment for the people of Vijayawada. By giving top priority to maintenance of sanitation, the municipal corporation achieved the Cleanest City award in Swachh Survekshan-2018. Being located in capital region Amaravati, securing such a prestigious award is a remarkable achievement for the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation,” Vijayawada Mayor Koneru Sreedhar was quoted as saying.

In May this year, the Centre announced Madhya Pradesh's Indore as one of the cleanest cities in India, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh as per the Swachh Sarvekshan 2018 conducted in 4,203 cities.

"The Swachh Sarvekshan 2018 assessed 4,203 urban local bodies, impacting around 40 crore citizens across the length and breadth of the country, through 2,700 assessors. The survey was organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban)," Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri said at the time.

Based on the survey, it was decided to confer awards on 29 cities and cantonment boards at the national level, 20 cities at the zonal level and three states for best performance in urban areas, he said. 

Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada was India's cleanest big city while the fastest mover big city tag was given to Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, which has come up to 32nd rank from 356.

IANS inputs