Even before the Swachh Survekshan Abhiyan results for 2017 were announced, the city found itself in an ‘exceptional’ place. Among the list of 500 cities which would be ranked based on various parameters, Hyderabad was the only city which went missing in the citizens’ feedback form uploaded on the website on the first day.
Instead, the State capital was listed as its civic body — the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, that too just the initials. Other metros, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai, were spared this erroneous entry. The issue was brought to the notice of the GHMC officials who acted on it and ensured that the technical error was rectified within 24 hours.
“Our officials got in touch with the concerned persons after we were told about the problem. The issue has been resolved,” said GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy.
The Swachh Survekshan Abhiyan survey has allotted 600 points out of 2,000 for the direct citizen feedback through the toll free number and website. In last year’s survey, Hyderabad fared poorly, ranking 19 among 73 other cities. Scoring just 271 points in the feedback category, Hyderabad was behind even Warangal, Visakhapatnam, and Vijayawada.
While the GHMC has been trying to create awareness about the survey and encourage citizens to participate in it, technical issues seem to pose a bigger challenge to the city in performing better than the last time.
“I called the number 1969 to record my response to the questions asked. I could not complete the process as my area pin code was not being recognised,” said a resident of Begumpet. “I tried more than twice but the same problem occurred, probably due to a bug. I hope the officials rectify the problem soon.”
