BMC blames Mumbaiites for its fall to 29th place from last year’s 10th

The civic body said it lost the spot as citizens failed to take part in the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2017 that was held between January and February

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), country’s financial capital in which 1.2 crore residents live, is out of the top 10 cleanest cities. Of the 434 cities surveyed, Mumbai ranked 29th. The cities were evaluated on five parameters — waste collection, solid waste management, construction of toilets, sanitation strategies and behaviour change communication.

In addition to improving cleanliness, the BMC said it will also focus on citizens’ involvement and would like more Mumbaiites to give their feedback for better performance next year. (HT Photo)

However, the civic body pinned the blame for its fall in the ranking on poor participation by Mumbaiites. Last year, the city bagged the 10th spot when 73 cities were scrutinised under the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2016. The city scored just one additional point this year as compared to 2016.

The rankings are based on the data provided by municipal corporations, independent assessors and feedback from people. In all, 3.7 million citizens participated in the exercise. However, only 5000 Mumbaiites participated in the survey.

“In addition to improving the cleanliness, we will also focus on citizens’ involvement and would like more Mumbaiites to give their feedback for better performance next year. There was apathy among citizens for voting. Mumbai continues to be number 1 among the mega cities,” said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant to municipal commissioner, solid waste management.

Like Mumbai, even Pimpri-Chinchwad, which was among the top 10 cleanest cities last year, dropped to 72nd spot in this year’s survey. The survey was carried out between January and February.