Swachh Bharat survey: Call 1969 to give feedback on Gurgaon’s cleanliness

Public feedback will be a factor in Gurgaon’s ranking in the 2017 Swachh Bharat survey

Residents interested in giving their feedback on the city’s sanitation and cleanliness facilities or rating it for the 2017 Swachh Bharat Survey can now give a missed call on the toll-free number 1969. The call will be returned with a pre-recorded questionnaire from the Union ministry of urban development (MoUD) through which residents can review the city’s facilities. The responses will be incorporated into the Swachh Bharat Survey for 2017 in which the 30% weightage given to public feedback will significantly determine the city’s ranking among over 500 cities.

The responses will be incorporated in the Swachh Bharat Survey for 2017 in which 30% weightage is given to public feedback. (Parveen Kumar/HT File Photo)

The last time it was incorporated, the poor public feedback led to Gurgaon ranking 466 out of the 476 cities in the 2015 survey. The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s (MCG) inability to revive the Bandhwari waste plant to build the city’s first construction and demolition (C&D) waste plant and the condition of public toilets may lead to poor public feedback this time too.

In the 2015 survey, 91% of respondents were unhappy with the facilities at public toilets and only 13% respondents felt they had access to a toilet within 500 metres. Similarly, more than 89% respondents had felt that the city was unclean.

Little has changed on these parameters since then. Only 14 toilets have been constructed in the last two years, taking the total to 39 toilets for over 10 lakh residents. Similarly, since June 2013, the Bandhwari plant remains defunct and there is still no clarity when the construction of the C&D waste plant will begin.

MCG officials though, remain unfazed, and have urged the public to give their feedback and improve the city’s rankings.

“The city is competing with over 500 cities in the Swachh Bharat Survey and every public feedback response will take the city closer to a higher ranking in the survey. Hence, the civic body is urging public to use the same,” Anu Sheokand, Joint Commissioner of MCG said.