Mandi in Himachal Pradesh is the cleanest district in the hilly areas of rural India whereas Sindhudurg in Maharashtra is the cleanest among districts situated in the plains; according to ‘Swachh Survekshan’ or the Cleanliness Index for Rural India released by rural development minister Narendra Tomar.
About Swachh Surveskshan Rankings :
A total of 22 hill districts and 53 plain areas were assessed under the Gramin Swachh Survekshan launched in May 2016. Mandi was judged as the cleanest district in “Hills” category and Sindhudurg as the cleanest in the “Plains” category, with districts of Sikkim, Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Nadia (West Bengal) and Satara (Maharashtra) featuring at the top of the index.
| Overall Ranking – Swachh Survekshan Gramin | ||||
| Category | Rank | District | State | Cleanliness Score |
| Hills | 1 | Mandi | Himachal Pradesh | 98.4 |
| Hills | 2 | West Sikkim | Sikkim | 96.4 |
| Hills | 3 | Shimla | Himachal Pradesh | 94.1 |
| Plains | 1 | Sindhudurg | Maharashtra | 96.8 |
| Plains | 2 | Nadia | West Bengal | 95.0 |
| Plains | 3 | Satara | Maharashtra | 92.9 |
On the other hand Bikaner, Ajmer, Pali and Dungarpur in Rajasthan; Ahmedabad, Anand and Panchmahal in Gujarat; Gadag in Karnataka; Sirsa in Haryana and Perambaluru in Tamil Nadu make up the 10 worst performing in cleanliness rankings among the districts in plains.
- Each district has been judged on four distinct parameters. Maximum weightage was placed on accessibility to safe toilets and water.
- The parameters to judge sanitation status include households having access to safe toilets, households having no litter around, public places with no litter in the surrounding and households having no stagnant waste water.
About Mandi :
Mandi,formerly known as Mandav Nagar, also known as Sahor, is a major town and a municipal council in Mandi District in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated 153 kilometres north of state capital, Shimla.
- Located in the north-west Himalayas at an average altitude of 1,044 metres (3,425 ft), the city of Mandi, experiences pleasant summers and cold winters.
- Mandi is connected to the Pathankot through National Highway 20 which is almost 220 km long and to Manali and Chandigarh through National Highway 21 which is 323 km long.
- Mandi is approximately 184.6 km from Chandigarh, the nearest major city, and9 km from New Delhi, the national capital.
- According to the 2011 Indian census, Mandi city has a population of 26,422. Mandi district is currently the 2nd largest economy in the state next to Kangra. Mandi, in the state is having second highest sex ratio of 1013 females per thousand males.
