BENGALURU: The Swachh Survekshan 2022 rankings which was released on Saturday saw Bengaluru slipping to a dismal rank of 43 out of 45 cities with a score of 2892.8 points, followed by only Chennai and Madurai.
Regarding the plunge from 28th spot in 2021, Solid Waste Management Commissioner, BBMP, Harish Kumar said that the city had fared better last time as the survey was based on the feedback of 10,000 people, but now when 5 lakh citizens were asked under the citizen ‘voice’ parameter, the scores took a hit.
“We are doing the door-to-door collection, and segregation of waste but citizens’ views are subjective. We are not qualified in parameters like ‘Water Plus’ (maintenance of stormwater drains, lakes and public toilets) and GFC (Garbage Free Certification),” he said, adding that this resulted in 2,800 points loss.
In one of the parameters, open defecation, there has been remarkable progress, he said. Urban Development Minister Byarthi Basavaraj said that he was happy that Mysuru city has bagged the eighth spot in the 1 lakh-plus population category. Twin cities Hubballi and Dharwad have bagged 43 and 82 ranks respectively.
“I had held meetings with commissioners of each city and asked them to focus on parameters like solid waste, wastewater management, and maintaining public toilets. We will work more to improve our rankings next year,” said Basavaraj.