A ‘mixed result’ is how you could term the Swach Bharat rankings for Tamil Nadu. While Tiruchi finished second nationally, the two most urbanised cities in the State — Chennai and Coimbatore — fared poorly, occupying ranks 61 and 169 respectively.
Lessons emerging from the rankings, released by the Union Urban Development Ministry (UUDM), could be crucial for future policy directions. Both Tiruchi and Madurai, the two best performing cities in Tamil Nadu on the sanitation indicator, seems to have followed a vibrant collectivist model, where the civil society, through NGOs and residential associations, had been roped in to contribute to the Swach Bharat drive.
The Swach Bharat mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014 to improve access to sanitation facilities and focus on cleanliness. The survey used number of parameters to assess the performance of 476 class-I cities, like extent of open defecation, solid waste management, septage management, waste water treatment, drinking water quality, surface water quality of water bodies and mortality due to water borne diseases etc.
According to UUDM website, Tamil Nadu was sanctioned as first instalment funds to the tune of about Rs. 118 crore.
Chennai ranked 12 in the list of State capitals and 61 nationally. Corporation officials say decision making delay on the technology to be used for solid waste management continues to affect civic conditions. The civic body is planning to speed up specific interventions and has started construction of new public toilets, though the target of 19,000 such units would be reached only after funds are released under the mission.
Also, the delay in decision making on source segregation and remediation had also been affecting dumpyards in Perungudi and Kodungaiyur. Release of funds under the mission was expected to offer rehabilitation schemes for manual scavengers also, an official said.
Tiruchi, which emerged all-India second, attributed the performance to “community participation”. M. Vijayalakshmi, Commissioner, Tiruchi City Corporation, told The Hindu that cooperation of people, community participation, concerted efforts of officials and elected representatives had made it possible for the city to secure the high ranking. Records suggest not one of the 286 slum areas in the city lack public toilets, which have reduced the habit of open defecation. Of the 78 sanitary complexes, 33 are operated and maintained by Self Help Groups and NGOs, underlining the improvement in service driven by the civil society.
In Madurai, while the resident welfare associations organised awareness programmes on garbage segregation in their localities, clean-up activities were carried out by youth forums at the Meenakshi Temple, Vaigai river bed, Teppakulam and other places of historical importance.
Madurai Corporation Commissioner C. Kathiravan said the city, which has 100 wards, had a sanitary inspector in every ward. Regular monitoring helps swift garbage removal.
On the other hand, for a city that has spent around Rs. 100 crore on solid waste management and prided itself on implementing projects like the zero-waste management system, the ranking has come as shocker to Coimbatore, say Corporation sources.
But the truth is that they are not surprised. The second and tertiary processing of waste is in a mess and the mound of mixed garbage in Vellalore is the proof. The primary collection is only now improving, thanks to some initiatives like the Clean Cities Championship, the sources say.
With inputs from C. Jaisankar in Tiruchi, S Poorvaja and L. Srikrishna in Madurai and Karthik Madhavan in Coimbatore
