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Chandigarh falters in run-up to 2020 Swachh rankings
After embarrassing drop to 20th position in 2019 rankings, city achieves 11th and 27th ranks in first two quarterly league rounds for next edition
The chances of Chandigarh improving upon its last year’s dismal Swachh Survekshan rankings in the 2020 edition looks grim, as the city has performed poorly in first two quarterly league rounds, the results of which were released on Tuesday.
While the city got 11th rank in the first quarter (April to June), it slipped to 27th position in the second quarter (July to September). The result of the third quarter (October to December) is awaited.
Indore, the country’s cleanest city in 2019, is again on the top of the table in both the league rounds, while the City Beautiful, which has been aspiring for the top spot for the past four years, is virtually out of the race.
The 2019 Swachh Survekshan had come as a major embarrassment to Chandigarh, as its rank had dropped to 20 from three that it achieved in 2018.
After the latest results released by the minister of housing and urban affairs, the municipal corporation has every reason to get worried, as the final rankings for 2020 — likely to be out in March or April — will have 25% weightage of these three quarterly assessments.
The league rounds were incorporated for the first time since the Swachh Survekshan began in 2016, with the sole purpose of periodically reviewing waste management efforts made by various civic bodies.
WHAT LED TO LOW RANKING
The assessment report of these league rounds revealed that the MC got 64% marks in door-to-door garbage collection and 58% marks in waste segregation yardstick.
It scored nil out of 35 marks fixed for formally integrating informal waste pickers into sustainable livelihoods, and just 13 out of 30 in implementing plastic waste management rules.
The MC also scored a poor 17 out of 50 in implementing the three ₹of waste management — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. When it came to effectively engaging resident welfare and market associations, it got just 22 out of 60. The civic body also missed taking part in quarterly rankings of Swachh hotel, school and healthcare facility, which resulted in the poor showing.
Vinod Vashisht, convener, City Forum of Residents Welfare Organisations, said the latest league round ranking is a wake up call for the MC, and it must take requisite steps before it is too late to make a comeback.
WE DELAYED REFORMS: MC CHIEF
MC commissioner KK Yadav admitted that the civic body could not undertake waste management reforms on time, which has now reflected in the poor ranking in league rounds.
“We could have done much better if decisions on waste reforms were taken on time,” he said, while adding that now the MC is on right track.
The MC has successfully roped in private waste collectors, which will help in streamlining primary door-to-door waste collection in a segregated manner in the next three to four months, he said. “The construction of our secondary collection centres and material recovery facility is already underway,” said Yadav.
“The impact of these decisions may not be visible in the 2020 rankings, but it will definitely be counted towards the 2021 rankings,” said the MC commissioner.
