Congress-ruled Karnataka ranks high on the Swachh Bharat list of 476 cities, with four in the top 10.
Mysuru in Karnataka, the city of palaces, has won a new distinction. It has been ranked as the cleanest city in the country on two Swachh Bharat parameters - reduction of open defecation and solid waste management.
Congress-ruled Karnataka ranks high on the Swachh Bharat list of 476 cities, with four in the top 10. Bengaluru, adjacent to Mysuru, leads the list of capitals and is seventh in the overall list.
Mysuru has a 12-lakh population. It has traditionally been acknowledged as a clean city.
The city produces around 402 tonnes of waste every day, which is processed at a sewage farm compost plant and nine zero waste management plants in the city, which see active private-public partnership.
"There is no such thing as waste. Everything, from medicine strips to discarded slippers, can be recycled," said Dr KS Nagapathi, whose NGO, the Federation of Ward Parliament works with one such plant.
Much of the city's household waste is segregated at these plants and health officials say the effort now is to ensure segregation at source. Three lakh bins have been distributed to poorer households in the city for wet and dry waste segregation, they said.
Many Mysureans said they were proud of the good work being done, but others felt parts of the city are still dirty.
Karnataka's neighbors in the south too score high on the Swachh Bharat list, with Kerala contributing two of India's cleanest cities in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, and Tamil Nadu one, with Thiruchirapalli.
Karnataka's four include Hassan and Mandya. The top 10 list also features Navi Mumbai, Halisahar in West Bengal and Gangtok in Sikkim.
Among the bottom 100 cities, 74 are from the North. Damoh in Madhya Pradesh is India's dirtiest.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his flagship Swachh Bharat or Clean India campaign last year.