Surprise: city ranked #1 in cleanliness survey

Mumbai has topped the Swacch Surveskshan 2018 after ranking 29th in the country last year; Navi Mumbai best in solid waste management

May 17, 2018 12:50 am | Updated 04:35 pm IST

Mumbai:July 07, 2017. The newly build toilets, which have been abandoned at a slum beside Bandra Railway station is the reality of the open defecation free mission taken under Swachh Bharat Mission. The Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday tweeted that Mumbai has become open defecation free (ODF), when the Quality Control of India issued a Swachhata Certificate to Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation declaring “Open Defecation Free” on July 6th, 2017.  . Photo:Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury.

Mumbai:July 07, 2017. The newly build toilets, which have been abandoned at a slum beside Bandra Railway station is the reality of the open defecation free mission taken under Swachh Bharat Mission. The Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday tweeted that Mumbai has become open defecation free (ODF), when the Quality Control of India issued a Swachhata Certificate to Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation declaring “Open Defecation Free” on July 6th, 2017. . Photo:Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury.

Mumbai: Taking many by surprise, the Swacch Surveskshan 2018, a cleanliness survey by the Central government, Mumbai has been ranked first among State capitals. Greater Mumbai, which had been ranked at 29t in the survey last year, was named as the ‘cleanest State capital/UT’ in the country.

Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai won the award for solid waste management. This city was the eighth cleanest city in the country in the Swacch Surveskshan 2017. This year’s result means Navi Mumbai ranks second among all States

While ranking cities and towns, the survey accorded 35% to citizen feedback and service level progress, while 30% weightage was given for direct observation. At the national level, Indore, Bhopal and Chandigarh were ranked the three cleanest cities in that order.

Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta thanked the people of Mumbai, as citizens’ feedback makes up a large part of the survey. The BMC issued a statement listing the measures it had taken over the past year to improve its ranking.

Citizens unconvinced

Civic activist Rajkumar Sharma said, “I am shocked by this. I can still see dumping grounds, bins overflowing with litter and even open defecation in the city, which is really sad. Even when Mumbai has been declared free of open defecation, people have to relieve themselves in the open simply because there aren’t enough toilets. The government has put the entire burden of swachchta on the citizens, whether it is waste segregation or rainwater harvesting.”

Gaurang Vora, also a civic activist, added, “This is a joke, a big lie created by the State to mislead the citizens. The BMC is doing nothing and not using the funds collected from the citizens efficiently. This declaration is just an eyewash.” Mr. Vora also said that while the BMC is stressing on segregation at source, the wet and dry waste is ultimately mixed.

Navi Mumbai agrees

Navi Mumbai residents echoed their sentiments. Sanjay Surve, an RTI activist from Navi Mumbai, said, “Solid waste management is only on paper and not happening the way the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is claiming. People’s involvement is less as there is no incentive for them. All the hype was only for the competition. Solid waste management should be a continuous process and not a temporary thing meant for a competition. There is no scientific segregation on landfill sites as claimed by the civic body. There is no data or any record of compost being made, as claimed. The NMMC has also claimed to have used plastic granules in the construction of roads, but there are no such roads in Navi Mumbai."

NMMC Commissioner Dr N. Ramaswami said he hopes the city features among the top 10 cities, if not in the first three.

He said, “Last year, Navi Mumbai’s position, both in the country and State, was declared at the venue during the ceremony. This time too, we are hopeful. We will look into where we lacked and try to overcome these issues next time. We have nearly 85% segregation happening, and this award has definitely motivated us to do better in future.”

Other cities shine

Other cities in Maharashtra have also done well: Nagpur has been awarded best city in innovation and best practices, while Bhiwandi won the ‘fastest mover’ award among medium cities. Bhusawal is the top ‘fastest mover’ small city in the country, while Parbhani was declared India’s best city in giving citizen feedback.

In the west zone, Panchgani won the ‘Cleanest City’ award, while the ‘Citizens Feedback’ prize went to Shendrajanaghat.

Saswad was declared the best city in the zone when it comes to innovation and best practices.

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