The state capital’s dismal 121st ranking (down by six notches compared to last year) in a nationwide cleanliness survey conducted by the union urban development ministry has once again raised a question mark on the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) and district administration’s tall claims about keeping the city clean.
Last year, Lucknow ranked 115th in the sanitation survey.
The LMC officials were taken aback by the poor show of the state capital in the all India sanitation rankings released in Delhi on Wednesday. It was totally unexpected as the city stood first in dynamic rankings of downloading the sanitation app and feedback of citizens, said additional municipal commissioner Amit Kumar.
Ghaziabad performed exceptionally well and got 13th position , while Kanpur stood at 63rd , Jhansi at 68th , Varanasi at 70th and Agra at 85th positions. This was the sole saving grace for they were among top hundred cleanest cities of India.
“This was the result when much emphasis was laid on cleanliness and revamping the city’s image was on the priority list. When the cleanliness scenario in the state capital is so dismal, the state of affairs in other cities of UP can be easily gauged,” said Sayyed Yawar Hussain Reshu , corporator of JC Bose ward.
He added, “An inquiry must be set up for misuse of funds by LMC officials as they have increased the number of contractual sanitation workers from 3,000 to 9,000 but without any results. The consumption of petrol per month was increased by 1.5 lakh litres for picking and transportation of solid waste but due to lack of planning, the funds were misused.”
{{/usCountry}}He added, “An inquiry must be set up for misuse of funds by LMC officials as they have increased the number of contractual sanitation workers from 3,000 to 9,000 but without any results. The consumption of petrol per month was increased by 1.5 lakh litres for picking and transportation of solid waste but due to lack of planning, the funds were misused.”
{{/usCountry}}Congress corporator Girish Mishra said, “Corruption is rampant in the rubbish removal department of Lucknow Municipal Corporation. The funds are misused and ranking of the city is going down..”