Swachh Survekshan list: Bengaluru ranks 43 among 45 cities; Vizag ranks 3

Three cities from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh – Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati, found a place in the top 10 rankings.
Representative image of Bengaluru traffic
Representative image of Bengaluru traffic
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Once known as India’s garden city, Bengaluru saw a steep fall in its rankings when the Swachh Survekshan 2022 list was released on Sunday, October 2. Karnataka’s capital city, which stood at 28th spot in 2021 slipped to the 43rd spot among a total of 45 cities that were surveyed. However, on the other hand, three cities from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh – Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati, found a place in the top 10 rankings. 

While Visakhapatnam was ranked as the fourth cleanest city in India, Vijayawada slipped to the 5th spot from the 3rd spot in 2021. Meanwhile, Tirupati stood at the 7th spot in the overall rankings. 

Meanwhile, Harish Kumar, Commissioner of the Solid Waste Management Department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), according to a report by The New Indian Express, said that one of the reasons why Bengaluru fared better in 2021 was because the survey was done based on the feedback of 10,000 people. But this year, over 5 lakh citizens were surveyed under the citizen ‘voice’ parameter. 

The Swachh Survekshan Gramin-2022 award by the Jal Shakti ministry ranks states and districts on the basis of their performance attained on key quantitative and qualitative Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) parameters and engagement of the rural community in improvement of their sanitation status.

Among large states (population of over 30 lakh), the first position has been grabbed by Telangana, followed by Haryana in the second and Tamil Nadu in the third position. Among small states/Union Territories (population less than 30 Lakhs) Andaman & Nicobar secured the top position followed by Daman and Diu & Dadar Nagar Haveli in the second place and Sikkim took the third place.

The top three districts of India are Bhiwani (Haryana), Jagtial (Telangana) and Nizamabad (Telangana) respectively. The awards were given to commemorate the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, Murmu stressed on the need to build a clean, healthy and self-reliant India. “At the beginning of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 3.23 crore rural households had tap water supply, which has increased to 10.27 crore in three years. The access to tap water has led to a significant reduction in water-borne diseases in recent years”, Murmu said.

But our goal is much bigger. We have to set an example to the world in the field of water management and sanitation, she said.

The President noted that since the launch of 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin' in 2014, more than 11 crore toilets have been constructed and about 60 crore people have changed their habit of open defecation.

Murmu said 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin' is a behaviour-change movement. "During the Covid pandemic, everyone realized that toilets, the habit of washing hands with soap, and water supply through taps have acted as a shield in this calamity," she said. The President said that the government is implementing the second phase of 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin', which aims to make all six lakh villages of the country ODF Plus.

Having achieved success against open defecation, we now have to address more complex and technical problems like solid and liquid waste management, Murmu said. She noted that since the beginning of the second phase of 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin', more than 1.16 lakh villages have declared themselves as ODF Plus and the work of solid and liquid waste management has also started in about three lakh villages.

With PTI inputs.

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