‘ULBs should put in more efforts to gain top spot in cleanliness’

Mysuru:“Mysuru was the only city in the State which secured a place in the top 50 clean cities list of the Swachh Survekshan-2017, while 14 cities of Madhya Pradesh, 12 cities of Gujarat and nine cities of Andhra Pradesh have figured in the list,” said Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner G. Jagadeesha.

He was speaking after inaugurating a workshop about ‘Swachh Survekshan-2018’ organised by the State Institute of Urban Development (SIUD), Mysuru, at Rani Bahadur Auditorium in Manasagangothri on Thursday.

Jagadeesha further said that Karnataka has a good opportunity in the Swachh Bharat Mission but officials of the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) should put in more efforts to be successful.

The Commissioner said that this time the methodology of the survey has been revised and the competition will be tough among the cities as the Ministry of Urban Development will conduct a cleanliness survey among 4,041 cities under ‘Swachh Survekshan.’

Ministry of Urban Development had considered only 73 and 500 cities in the country in 2016 and 2017 respectively. While 2016 and 2017 surveys were conducted for 2,000 marks, Swachh Survekshan-2018 will be for 4,000 marks.

Of the total marks, 1,400 marks have been allotted for documentation and another 1,400 for feedback from people, Swachh Survekshan Officer Malikarjuna said.

The Commissioner said that in 2017, the city lost marks in construction of toilets. He said that as many as 425 toilets were targeted to be constructed but the authorities could construct only a few. Similarly, the MCC lost marks in people’s feedback. Only 5,000 people provided their feedback to the authorities, the Commissioner said.

In order to foster a healthy competition between the cities for improving standards of cleanliness, the Ministry of Urban Development has started ‘Swachh Survekshan’ ranking of the cities on cleanliness and other aspects of urban sanitation.

The performance evaluation of the Swachh Survekshan is conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI), an autonomous body of the Government of India, he said.

Faustina Gomez of National Programme Management Unit, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) and SIUD Director G. Venkatesh Kadagadkai were also present.