BHUBANESWAR:Ranked No. 1 in Smart City contest, Bhubaneswar has been placed at 245th position among 485 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the cleanliness list prepared by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
In the Swachh Sarvekshan 2018, the city has scored 1887.82 marks out of total 4000 and slipped from 94th spot secured last year, much to the embarrassment of the civic administration. In 2016 survey, Bhubaneswar was ranked 24th and figured in the ‘Aspiring Leader’ category from among 73 participants. In 2014, it was ranked 213th among 500 cities. This time, the Swachh Sarvekshan was conducted in 4,203 ULBs - from municipal corporations to nagar panchayats and cantonment boards across the country between January 4 and March 10.
Three types of ranking - national ranking for ULBs with population of one lakh and above, zonal or regional ranking for the smaller ULBs having population of less than one lakh and State ranking were introduced for the first time. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said open defecation and absence of solid waste management facility were two major reasons behind the slip of ranking. “We scored less because of the negative marking for both the reasons,” he admitted.
Apart from Bhubaneswar, nine other cities/towns from Odisha have found ranks in the list. While Balasore secured second spot in the State with the national ranking of 301st (1670.05 marks), another Smart City Rourkela is placed at 307th with 1657.43 marks. Other cities which figured in the cleanliness list include Berhampur at 308th rank, Baripada 357th, Bhadrak 383rd, Puri 391st, Cuttack 402nd, Sambalpur 431st, Hindol NAC 449th and Chandabali NAC at 479th spot.
While 79 per cent people in Odisha were knew that their city/town is participating in Swachh Sarvekshan, 63 per cent people in ULBs with more than one lakh population found that their locality is cleaner than last year.
For the survey, data was collected from municipal bodies through direct observation by survey officials and citizens’ feedback on the facilities available.Last year, Rourkela was ranked 168th followed by Berhampur at 187th place, Balasore at 190th, Puri at 194th, Cuttack at 204th, Baripada at 261st, Sambalpur at 322nd and Bhadrak at 349th.
Slipping story
245th position secured by Bhubaneswar
485 Urban Local Bodies surveyed
24th rank secured in 2016 survey
3 types of ranking awarded
301st rank for Balasore
307th position for Rourkela