“Kolkata best Indian city for quality of life”

The city of joy has been ranked the best place for quality of life among Indian cities, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote in a post on Facebook, on Monday.

Kolkata topped the list in a recently-conducted survey, which was based on over 100 parameters in 21 selected cities, she wrote.

While Thiruvananthapuram and Bhopal ranked second and third respectively, national capital New Delhi was placed fifth.

“We are happy that over the last three years, our efforts to restore the glory of Kolkata and make it a truly great metro - from beautification to making the city clean and green and improving civic amenities – are yielding results. More is planned in the coming days,” Ms. Banerjee wrote. The survey - second Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems - was conducted by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, a non-profit organisation based in Bangalore, which works with Indian citizens and governments to improve the quality of life.

According to the survey, Indian cities have scored in a range of 2.5 to 4 out of 10 against the global benchmarks of London and New York, which have scored 9.6 and 9.3 respectively. Kolkata ranked fourth in the survey, aided by a strong non-partisan election process, robust State Election Commission, and a high voter turnout, the survey stated.

However, many opposed the Chief Minister questioning the veracity of the survey.