The city's ranking in the national cleanliness survey Swachh Survekshan 2019 took a major hit as it dropped to 49 from 18 last year. Thane's ranking dropped to 57 from 40 last year, but Navi Mumbai brought cheer as it took the number seven rank overall, two notches up from last year.
Mira-Bhayandar jumped to 27 from 47 last year, and Vasai-Virar stood at 36, compared to 61 in 2018. Maharashtra was ranked third among the best-performing states in the country in the cleanliness mission, bagging 45 awards in various categories. In the category of smaller towns with less than one lakh population, 8 of the top 10 were from Maharashtra.
The shock was the sharp drop in Mumbai's ranking but was not entirely unexpected. Several reasons were attributed, including not qualifying for a three-star rating and citizen feedback where it scored poorly. The city seemed to have made a significant improvement over the past few years, but staying at the improved levels and getting even better is something that, in the minds of Mumbaikars, seems to have not really happened. It is incumbent on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to see that the city’s ranking go up as drastically next year as it has dropped this Swachh season.
In the certification category, had the city qualified for a three-star rating, it could have scored 750 marks. But it got only 450, as it qualified for two-star rating. To meet a criterion for a three-star rating, BMC would have to collect user fees from the public to partially or fully cover the cost of solid waste collection, transportation, processing, and disposal services. It was unwilling to do so, and ended up losing points. In the citizen feedback category too, the city scored poorly, getting 848 marks out of 1,250. During last year's survey, the city had scored 1,200 out of 1,400 in this category, which is 86 per cent of the required score, in comparison to 68% this time. But civic officials said citizens did not vote for the city adequately during the survey.
Also read- Corporators Demand Uniform Policy For Nullah Cleaning
The city also lost marks for inadequate segregation and processing of waste, which were criteria for the survey. BMC officer from Swachh Bharat, Abhiyan Kiran Dighavkar said that the parameters this year were more stringent regarding segregation and processing of waste. Despite several options for citizens to vote for the city in the competition, it did not happen. However, two projects of BMC started in public-private partnership received a mention in the competition. One was the sea-facing solar-powered public toilet at Marine Drive, inaugurated in October last year. It is free, and was put together using weathering steel sheets, considering it is at a seafront. Another project was the citizen-led waste-to-energy plant, in operation in Bandra's Pali Hill. Under the project, wet waste from the area is used to generate electricity and it powers street lights in Pali Hill.
Enthused by last year’s award of Cleanest State Capital for Mumbai, the municipal corporation in its 2019-20 budget last month had laid emphasis on centrally promoted sanitation campaigns like the Swachh Bharat Mission. Also on BMC’s cleanliness radar is waste management on beaches that are visited by lakhs of people every day, Last year, a contractor was appointed to keep Juhu, Chimbai and Waring Pada beaches clean. Inspired by the success there, BMC has decided to appoint similar contractors at Mahim and Dadar beaches. A budgetary provision of Rs 11 crore has been allocated for the same
Share
Tweet
