FIle Photo: PM Modi cleaning the Assi Ghat in Varanasi

The Ministry of Urban Development will today announce the ranking of 73 cities surveyed for sanitation and hygiene conditions as part of the Swachh Survekshan 2016 launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.The survey result will unveil the list of India's cleanest cities and will also give a clearer indication about the impact of Swachh Bharat mission.With the announcement of the cleanliness merit list of cities, 15 good performers in different categories will also be felicitated by the Centre.The results of this year's survey, besides ranking 73 cities, also categorises them as Leaders and Aspiring Leaders. The latter category means those cities that are close to catching up with the leaders with a little effort, which are on the verge of take-off.The survey, conducted in 2014, covered all the 476 Indian cities each with a population of one lakh and above for ranking based on their sanitation conditions.However, to resolve the issue whether the small city of Damoh in Madhya Pradesh - ranked at the bottom of 476 cities - can be compared with Greater Mumbai and Chennai and be ranked relatively, the survey was done among comparable group of 73 cities that have a population of ten lakhs and above each and 22 capitals.The idea was to create a comparable homogenous set given the scale of population in each city and special efforts that are made to keep the capitals clean though some of them have less population.A senior official in the ministry said, "Traditionally towns and cities in south and west India have been cleaner than their peers in other regions. The survey will prove whether the dominance of cities from the south and west prevails or if it is faces a threat?"