Swachh Survekshan 2020: Mohali slips to 157th spot in worst show ever

The city scored just 46.5% marks (2,790/6,000), against the 94.12% scored by Indore, India’s cleanest city.

Continuing its image of Chandigarh’s poor cousin, in its worst show ever, Mohali further slipped to the 157th position in the Swachh Survekshan rankings declared on Thursday.

Garbage seen at Kambali village in Mohali on Thursday. MC’s ambitious solid-waste management project at Samgoli village has remained a non-starter with the state government failing to expedite it. (Gurminder Singh/HT)

The city even dropped to the seventh position in Punjab from the 4th spot last year.

Mohali performed its best in 2018 when it was ranked 109, only to fare poorly at the 153th position in 2019.

This year, the city scored just 46.5% marks (2,790/6,000), against the 94.12% scored by Indore, India’s cleanest city.

Reflected in just 215 marks out of 1,500 in the service level progress parameter, failure to get garbage management projects off the ground became Mohali’s undoing.

MC’s ambitious solid-waste management project at Samgoli village has remained a non-starter with the state government failing to expedite it.

The city also failed to ensure an open-defecation free (ODF) status by constructing adequate mobile and public toilets – crucial for attaining a smart city status. MC’s plans to spend Rs 97.76 lakh on construction of public toilets in eight markets also remain only on paper.

Due to this, Mohali scored just 300 out of 1,500 marks in the ODF certification.

Besides, the civic body has failed to start garbage segregation at source in most areas, while door-to-door garbage collection also remains irregular.

The city scored highest in citizen feedback (1,119/1,500), followed by 1,115 out of 1,500 marks in direct observation.

“The city has literally gone to dogs. The municipal corporation has failed to sort out the garbage plant issue for over 10 years. There was no awareness campaign for Swachh Survekshan,” said CL Garg, president of Confederation of Greater Mohali Residents’ Welfare Associations.

“We worked really hard, but could not achieve the required rank. We will focus on the grey areas and ensure the ranking is improved next year,” said MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg.