New Delhi | Ahmedabad was named the cleanest big city on Thursday, followed by Bhopal and Lucknow in the government's annual cleanliness survey, even as Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai and Vijayawada were elevated to a newly formed 'Super Swachh League Cities' category for demonstrating exceptional performance in sanitation.

The results of the Swachh Survekshan were announced on Thursday. According to the government, 14 crore people participated in the survey through face-to-face interactions, the Swachhata App, MyGov and social media platforms in over 4,500 cities.

Seventy-eight awards were presented this year across four categories -- Super Swachh League Cities; Top three clean cities in five population categories; Special Category: Ganga Towns, Cantonment Boards, SafaiMitra Suraksha, Mahakumbh; and State Level Awards -- Promising clean city of a state or Union Territory.

Under the new category 'Super Swachh League', Noida emerged as the cleanest city, followed by Chandigarh and Mysore in the three to 10 lakh population category.

President Droupadi Murmu gave away the awards to the winners at an event which was attended by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal and others.

Talking about the 'Super Swachh League' city award category, an official in the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said Indore, Surat and Navi Mumbai have topped the list of cleanest cities in the last few years and set new parameters in the field of cleanliness.

To promote new cities towards cleanliness, the 'Swachh Shahar' category has also been introduced, the official said, adding Ahmedabad has secured the first position, followed by Bhopal and Lucknow.

'SS 2024-25 awards' has put the spotlight on the theme of "reduce, reuse, recycle". Over 3,000 assessors conducted thorough inspections in every ward across the country over 45 days, the ministry said.

This year, the awards not only celebrate the top Swachh Shehar but also recognise and encourage small cities showing strong promise and progress, it added.