BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar, which was number 1 smart city in the country in 2016, has slipped to 311 and 166 spots in terms of cleanliness in the first and second quarters of Swachh Survekshan Leagure 2020, a precursor to Swachh Survekshan 2020 which will start from January 4, 2020. As per the report released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Bhubaneswar with just 225.13 points remained at the bottom in the list of top five cities/towns from Odisha in the first quarter of the Swachh Survekshan League.
Berhampur with 678.98 points secured 170 rank in the first quarter, Rourkela 231, while Cuttack and Sambalpur secured 243 and 280 spots respectively. Not a single city or town from the State could make it to top 100 in the league ranking in the first quarter. However, Bhadrak secured 86 rank in the second quarter followed by Berhampur at 113, Bhubaneswar at 166, Balasore at 180 and Puri town at 217.
With the Swachh Survekshan 2020 scheduled to commence from January 4, 2020, the poor performance of state Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), especially the Capital city, in the cleanliness ranking raises concern.
The sliding show of Bhubaneswar in the Swachhata ranking has been causing embarrassment to the State Government. In Swachh Survekhsan 2018, Bhubaneswar was below Berhampur in terms of cleanliness. Berhampur ranked 216 whereas Bhubaneswar was placed at 288 among 4,237 cities in the country.
Urban Planner Piyush Rout said lack of proper solid waste management facility is one of the main reasons behind Bhubaneswar’s poor ranking. BMC Deputy Commissioner Subhendu Sahu said efforts are on to improve the ranking of the city by strengthening sanitation and waste management. As many as 43 micro composting centres are being set up in Bhubaneswar for this purpose.
The Swach Survekshan parameters include wastewater treatment and reuse, solid waste management, faecal sludge management. The ODF+, ODF++ and Water+ Plus Protocols by the Ministry work as the guiding document for cities in this regard. In the Swachh Survekshan this year citizens will also be able to share their feedback regarding the cleanliness of their cities through the 1969 Swachhata Helpline, the Swachhata App, Swachh Survekshan 2020 portal and the Vote for Your City App from 4 January 2020.