Clean Feat: How Jhansi civic body broke into India’s top 10

LUCKNOW: In a major achievement, the Jhansi Municipal Corporation has ranked 9th in the latest Municipal Performance Index, the first time that a district from UP has made it to the top 10.
The district added another feather in its cap by ranking 34th in the Ease of Living index, the only district from UP, in the under-10 lakh population category, to make it to the top 50.
"Under the guidance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Jhansi Municipal Corporation has undergone a metamorphosis in terms of delivery of services. Several milestones like commissioning of the city’s first sewage and the Integrated Command and Control Centre are round the corner. The rejuvenation of the historical Laxmi Tal and several other smart initiatives will be rolled out in 2021,” said Dr Rajneesh Dubey, additional chief secretary (urban development).
The ministry of urban and housing affairs, which has issued these rankings on the basis of third party verification, has identified the ease of living index as an assessment of outcomes while the municipal performance index assesses the delivery of services, governance, planning etc which determines those outcomes.
‘Lockdown used to complete several pending works in Jhansi’
The municipal performance index included 20 sectors like education, health, water and wastewater, solid waste management and sanitation, registration and permits, infrastructure, revenue management, digital governance and digital literacy.
Jhansi DM Andra Vamsi said that the lockdown provided the district administration with a massive opportunity to turn things around in the district which has a population of 6 lakh in Jhansi city and another14 lakh in the rural areas.
“We carried out 4.5 lakh tests, covering all houses. There were 400 containment zones where a strict protocol for maintaining sanitation, barricading, distribution of civil supplies etc was maintained. During this time, the quality of all services like water, power etc improved significantly,” he said. The district, at the border of UP and Madhya Pradesh, saw 10 lakh migrant workers cross through during the Covid-19 lockdown, all of whom were given food and transport facilities to reach their homes. The mandi was decentralised so that the administration could ensure regular and sufficient distribution of food and civil supplies during this period. Vamsi said that lockdown period was also used to complete several pending works, like execution of an overbridge and clearing of several tenders by the nagar nigam, which included projects for the Jhansi Fort. Modernisation of various projects was also taken up. “Water supply is a problem in Jhansi and currently we have ensured 13 reservoirs and 13 overhead tanks to service1.25 lakh households in Jhansi city.10 overhead tanks and 10 reservoirs will be completed by 2022. Land acquisition for airport has been done,” Vamsi said.