Coimbatore city ranked poor in Swach Survekshan Survey
The city has slumped to its worst-ever Swachh Survekshan survey ranking, dropping to 46th from 16th in 2018, among the 48 cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. The civic body earned only 2308.41 points out of 6,000.
Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India. It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation.
Cities are ranked on three parameters – service-level progress (efficiency in solid waste management), certifications (garbage-free city and open defecation-free) and citizen’s voice. Coimbatore secured 1,079.98 out of 2,400 points in the service-level progress, 928.43 in citizen’s voice and 300 in certification.
While the city earned good marks in the citizen’s voice category, it was found deficient in certifications,” corporation commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara said. “Issues in door-to-door garbage collection and streamlining waste collection failed the civic body.”
The civic body needs to improve solid waste collection, said G S Kalidoss, a resident of Gandhi Managar. “Garbage has been piling up on streets as they are not frequently cleaned. Residents should behave responsibly to improve garbage disposal, ” he told.
Expressing reservations about the new ranking, activist K Kathirmathiyon said he did not experience any significant degradation in cleanliness. “I am not a big fan of Swachh rankings as I don’t believe they are carried out transparently. However, the garbage problem should be sorted out,” he said.
Among other cities in Tamil Nadu, Chennai secured the 43rd rank with a score of 2,781. Madurai was at 47th with a score of 2,207.The corporation has received guidelines for the next year’s ranking, Sunkara said. “Neutral teams will inspect city neighbourhoods between January and March next year and chart out plans to improve the next ranking. We want residents to support us in waste segregation and disposal,” he added.
The objective of the Swachh Survekshan survey is to encourage citizen participation, increase city capacities for sustainable ODF and sanitation measures and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of collective action to contribute to India’s journey towards a ‘Swachh Bharat’. People should understand that and keep their surroundings clean and tidy.
Meena
Read, Digital Health ID: How to create this card? What are its uses? on yourcoimbatore.com
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