VISAKHAPATNAM: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has begun efforts to achieve top rank in Swachh Survekshan 2021, involving the Residential Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the city. The GVMC, which got 3-star rating in Swachh Survekshan 2020, has aimed at achieving 5 star rating as a garbage-free city.
Public feedback plays a key role in getting the top rank as 1,800 marks are awarded in the category, according to GVMC Additional Commissioner Sanyasi Rao.
Swachh Survekshan 2021 has been redesigned with focus on sustaining the behavioural change. The survey will rank cities on the basis of performance in six indicators, including segregation of waste into wet, dry and hazardous categories, processing capacity of the generated wet waste, processing and recycling of wet and dry waste, construction and demolition (C&D) waste management, percentage of waste going to landfills and sanitation.A new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ has been introduced.
The Samman has five sub-categories, including Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), and Aarohi (Aspiring) and top three cities will be awarded.
Addressing the Residential Welfare Association representatives here on Tuesday, Sanyasi Rao urged them to cooperate with the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation in ensuring that every household in their locality segregates waste at source.
The user charge for collection of garbage from each house is `50. People should desist from using plastics to protect the environment.
The RWAs should upload various eco-friendly activities undertaken by them as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021 to Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) portal. As part of ‘Swachhata Change’, they should identify 10 men and 10 women in their localities based on their performance.
The RWAs should also honour the best NGOs and sanitary workers in their localities, he said.