Pune: With score of 66.27, Pune has bagged second spot in the Ease of Living Index. According to a report, the Ease of Living Index is the highest in Bengaluru (66.70) while Ahmedabad (64.87) ranks third. The Ease of Living Index was released by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday. Talking about the lowest index, Bareilly, Dhanbad and Srinagar are the bottom three cities.

In cities with population less than 10 lakhs, Shimla was ranked first, followed by Bhubaneswar and Silvassa while Muzaffarpur in Bihar had the lowest score according to the Ease of Living Index 2020 prepared by the Ministry.

The assessment practice was conducted last year just before the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19. No city has been included from West Bengal amid ‘data challenge’, the report stated.

The first edition of the index was introduced in 2018. It was based on indicators across 15 assessment parameters, including, identity and culture, education, governance, health, economy, affordable housing, public open spaces, safety and security, land use, transportation and mobility, power and quality of environment water supply, waste-water management and solid waste management. The report also joins the residents’ view on the services provided by administration of the city through citizen survey.

A total of 111 cities participated in the assessment that was conducted in 2020.

CHECK OUT THE TOP 10 CITIES

· Rank 1: Bengaluru

· Rank 2: Pune

· Rank 3: Ahmedabad

· Rank 4: Chennai

· Rank 5: Surat

· Rank 6: Navi Mumbai

· Rank 7: Coimbatore

· Rank 8: Vadodara

· Rank 9: Indore

· Rank 10: Greater Mumbai