New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS): Delhi was on Thursday declared the cleanest capital city in India and also bagged the third rank among cities with a population between one to 10 lakh in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' cleanliness survey report.

The announcement was made by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri at the Swachh Mahotsav organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. He gave the award to NDMC chairperson Dharmendra at a virtual event.

The New Delhi Municipal Council also secured the award for the best performing capital among all state capitals and Union territories. The council's national ranking has also improved compared to the past few years. Last year, it was at fifth position but has now secured the third spot in the survey report.

The municipal council has already achieved ODF++ (Open Defecation-Free) status and received three stars as per the ministry's rating protocol for garbage-free cities.

"NDMC is a bin-free city with volume sensor underground bins which are monitored at Command and Control Centre. It is carrying out 100 per cent door-to-door collection and processes all its waste on a daily basis. No garbage goes to the landfill site and the entire waste is incinerated to produce power," the council said in a statement.

All NDMC schools, middle and senior, have sanitary napkin-vending machines. It has also created 'young journalists' among schools students to spread the message of cleanliness in the community. The NDMC area also has 100 per cent sewerage connectivity.

Besides this, Indore has been named as the country's cleanest city for the fourth time in a row, Surat in Gujarat emerged as India's second cleanest city, followed by Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra which bagged the third spot in the 'Swachh Survekshan 2020' report.