BENGALURU: It’s bad news for Karnataka in the latest Swachh Bharat survey. Mysuru, which was ranked India’s cleanest city for two consecutive years, slipped to the fifth spot this year. But Bengaluru was a big disappointment, seeing a huge drop from rank 38 last year to 210 this year.
The Swachh Bharat Survekshan 2017, which surveyed 434 cities, picked Indore as the cleanest, followed by Bhopal (both in Madhya Pradesh).
The assessment was based primarily on urban sanitation, with areas of evaluation including waste collection, solid waste management, open defecation or presence of toilets, information, education and behaviour change and capacity building and SBM (Swach Bharath Management) e-learning portal.
Besides, data was provided by municipal corporations, independent assessors and feedback from people.
What seems to have gone against Bengaluru is the sheer size of the city with 1.2 crore population and magnitude of challenges confronting it, while most of its competitors are smaller cities or towns.
“Also, during the time of the survey, waste processing units were not operational,” said government sources.
Bengaluru’s poor ranking, however, does not surprise former BBMP commissioner and additional chief secretary K Jairaj. “At a time when other cities are doing well, BBMP has not been able to meet the challenges on many fronts, including solid waste management and ensuring cleanliness of the city. We need strong leadership and good organisation,” he said.