Ease of Living Index 2020: Visakhapatnam ranked 15th most livable city

Visakhapatnam has stood 15th on the list of the Ease of Living Index released by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Housing and Urban Affairs, on Thursday.

The rankings under Ease of Living Index 2020 were announced for cities with a population of more than a million, and cities with less than a million people. 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise that was conducted in 2020. With a score of 57.28, Visakhapatnam is also the only city from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to feature among the top 20 on the Ease of Living Index list for cities with a population of more than a million.

As per the survey, Visakhapatnam accounted for a score of 65.18 in Sustainability, the second-highest in the category. While Quality of Life and Citizen Perception accounted for 51.93 and 77.20 respectively, the city fared poorly in Economic Ability, managing to garner only 19.42.

Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ category, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai. While Hyderabad, with a score of 55.40 stood 24th, Vijayawada, with a score of 50.35, took the 41st spot.

In the Less than Million category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli. Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada, with a score of 56.84 made it to the 4th spot.

The Ease of Living Index (EoLI) is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development. It provides an understanding of participating cities across India based on the quality of life, economic-ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience. The assessment also incorporates the residents’ view on the services provided by city administration through a Citizen Perception Survey.

It may be noted that Visakhapatnam, with an overall score of 52.77, broke into the top 10 cities in terms of Municipal Performance. Under Municipal Performance, the city fared well in terms of Finance, Planning, and Services. Technology and Governance though hinted at the scope for improvement.