The renewed efforts of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to introduce and strengthen various sanitation and civic initiatives reflected in the Swachh Survekshan-2017 rankings announced on Thursday. The GHMC was ranked 22 out of 434 cities and towns across the country which were assessed on various parameters. The GHMC was awarded an overall score of 1,605 out of 2,000 based on the marks received in the categories of Citizen Feedback, Municipal Self Declaration and On-Site Observation. More than 2.3 lakh citizens participated in the survey and gave their feedback on GHMC’s performance. In 2016, Hyderabad was ranked 19th among 73 cities with more than 1 million population and in 2015, it had got 275th place among 476 cities and towns being part of the assessment.
Apart from Hyderabad, Warangal with 28th rank, Suryapet with 30th and Siddipet with 45th rank from Telangana made it to the top 100. Suryapet was declared the cleanest city in the south zone. The city’s civic body scored the national highest in sub-categories of Solid Waste Management and Capacity Building Initiatives with 185 and 45 marks respectively. However, in the area of Open Defecation and Toilets, the GHMC could score only 130 against the national highest score of 270. Municipal Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy said that though they were elated with the result, it was not fair to compare micro, medium and large cities. Mayor B. Rammohan, said the good ranking was possible because of citizens.
