Noida’s cleanliness ranking takes a hit; all eyes on on-ground assessment

The cleanliness ranking of Noida slipped many places, show results of the Swachh Survekshan (SS) League 2020 released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

The cleanliness ranking of Noida slipped many places, show results of the Swachh Survekshan (SS) League 2020 released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Tuesday. From 150th rank out of 400 cities assessed in Swachhta Survekshan, 2019, Noida’s standing improved to 126 in Quarter 1, but slipped sharply in Quarter 2 to 244. Neighbouring Greater Noida, which was assessed for the first time among cities with a population of less than 10 lakh people, improved its quarter on quarter ranking. It stood 352 in Quarter 1 and 278 in Quarter 2.

HT Image

Noida authority officials said their rank took a hit because of poor data entry and negative feedback by residents. Officials also dismissed these quarterly rankings as “insignificant” and said they aim to perform better in Quarter 3 and were hopeful of securing top ranking in the survey to be finished by January 24, 2020.

“The result for Quarters 1 and 2 are not that significant as compared to Quarter 3 results. These two quarters have only 25% weightage in overall ranking for a city. We will try to cover up and perform better because we have taken multiple measures, including making city open-defecation free and waste treatment,” Noida authority chief executive officer Ritu Maheshwari said.

The authority officials said that out of 6,000 marks allotted in the survey, quarter 1 and 2 have only 25% role and quarter 3 has 75% weightage. For Quarters 1 and 2, ranks were based on data detailing quantity of waste, treatment methodology etc and residents’ feedback.

The MoHUA teams will visit the city between January 4 and 24, 2020, to collect data, feedback and then announce the final ranking in March.

“We have taken many policy decisions to improve waste collection, segregation and treatment. The effort of these decisions will take time to improve overall image of the city in cleanliness,” said a Greater Noida authority official, not authorized to speak to media.

It must be noted that Noida has lagged behind even in previous edition of the cleanliness survey. In 2019, Noida ranked 150th, much below Loni, a small town in Ghaziabad, which ranked 113, and Hardoi, which had the 116th spot. In 2018, Noida’s rank was 324.