MCC goes all guns blazing for Swachh Survekshan-2021

Urges citizens to give positive feedback and help obtain better rank

Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has started gearing up for the Swachh Survekshan-2021 rankings awarded by the Swachh Bharat Mission, which will depend on scores obtained in three parts of the survey.

The Swachh Survekshan Cleanliness Survey-2021 will consist of physical inspection, service-level progress as presented by the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), citizens’ feedback and garbage-free city certification. The MCC has urged the citizens to give positive feedback and help the Corporation obtain better rank. Instructions have been issued to officials to spread awareness among public about the questions.

Addressing a meeting on Swachh Survekshan-2021, MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde said that this year’s survey has already begun and will be done for three months instead of one month as in the earlier years. Of 6,000 marks, citizens’ feedback has 1,800 marks, which will be based on questions asked about garbage collection and plastic use. The survey for citizens’ feedback will be conducted through phone calls between Jan. 1 and Mar. 31. On-field validation will be held from Mar. 1 to 28.

The questions will be about segregation of waste, door to door garbage collection, measures towards eradicating open defecation and urination, ban on plastic covers less than 50 microns in thickness, and awareness campaigns about cleanliness, he informed. The feedback also questions how well the citizen is aware of the on-going survey and previous survey. Apart from the number of people giving feedback, the category also includes the number of active users of the Swachhata app.

Number of cities rise

The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities; by 2020 the survey had grown to cover 4,242 cities and is said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. In 2021, over 3,898 cities (1 lakh population), 423 cities with 1 to 10 lakh population, 53 cities with more than 10 lakh population are expected to take part in the survey under various categories and strength of population.

One of the important aspects of this year’s survey is waste water recycling. MCC Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraj said that Mysuru city was already recycling 30 percent of its water and utilising it for secondary purposes such as gardening and fountain maintenance.

Apart from categorising cities and ranking them on the basis of their population, the cities will also be evaluated on the basis of various indicators such as percentage of waste segregation, quantum of waste processed, recycling of waste, processing of construction and demolition debris, percentage of waste going into the landfills and sanitation status, he said. 

Construction and Demolition Waste Treatment Plant

Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde said that all these years, Mysuru lacked a Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Treatment Plant and this was a major drawback. 

“Now the Government has already approved a project for this and Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) will expedite the transfer of land to establish the Plant to take care of construction debris,” he said.

“From Feb. 1 we will launch a drive to clean the ‘black spots’ and take up a thorough cleaning and garbage clearance exercise. Though our teams clear garbage every day covering all the 65 Wards of the city, it is the responsibility of citizens to ensure that they do not litter public places. We have already started penalising people who dump garbage indiscriminately and despite this, garbage continues to be dumped at public places,” he added. 

Dr. Nagaraj said that Mysuru was not far behind Indore in terms of cleanliness. “We have scored higher on certain parameters including direct evaluation by third parties. We are losing out on citizen feedback front due to the lack of Kannada app. Lack of Kannada in the Swachhata app to post complaints and seeking resolution is negative factor. This is being addressed,” he said.

HOW MYSURU SCORED ALL THESE YEARS