Swachh Survekshan: Jaipur among 40 cleanest cities in country

Jaipur has improved significantly to be among the top 40 cleanest cities in the country.

According to the Swachh Survekshan-2018 report, which was released by union minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri in Indore on Saturday, Jaipur’s rank rose from last year’s dismal 215 to 40.

The pink city also bagged the award for ‘fastest mover state capital’ in the country. Udaipur, another city from Rajasthan, bagged 85th rank in the survey.

The survey, conducted between January 4 and March 10, 2018, assessed 4,203 cities in the country on various parameters of cleanliness. Jaipur secured 2,971 points, while Udaipur got 2,623 points.

“We are happy with the improvement. The next target is to be among top three cleanest cities in India. We will work hard and also have special plans for that,” said Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) commissioner Ravi Jain.

He said the waste to energy plant will be functional in the city by this year, which will give relief from the problem of garbage disposal. Besides, the JMC will start a pilot project in some wards focusing on waste segregation, he added.

The corporation will also launch a public awareness campaign focusing on behavioural change among people to be conscious about cleanliness, he further added.

Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoti and JMC commissioner Ravi Jain received the award for becoming the ‘fastest mover state capital’ of India from Puri.

In the assessment of making the city open defecation free (ODF), weightage for treatment and processing of solid waste in Jaipur also increased in this year’s survey.