BHUBANESWAR : Even as Odisha has managed to improve its position significantly in the Swachh Survekshan 2023 ranking, waste management remains grim in urban areas of the state with just 50 percent or less garbage being processed in 86 percent of the civic bodies.
As per the latest cleanliness ranking report released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Odisha is the fourth state in the country in terms of cleanliness, with over 93.17 percent door-to-door waste collection and around 74 percent source segregation in urban areas. However, just around 66 percent of total garbage collected every day at the urban local body (ULB) level is being processed.
50 percent or less waste is processed in 99 out of 114 ULBs in the state including Berhampur Municipal Corporation, Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, Balasore Municipality, Khurda municipality, Baripada municipality and Keonjhar municipality. While in Sorada, 10 percent of waste is process, it is 27.78 per cent in Baliguda. No waste (zero percent) is processed in Nabarangpur municipality and Khandapada, Hindol, Bhuban, Nimapada and Gudari NACs, states the Swachh Survekshan report.
However, on the brighter side, 100 per cent waste is processed in Chikiti NAC, Bhanjanagar NAC, Aska NAC, Purushottampur NAC, Ganjam NAC, Jajpur Municipality and Polsara NAC. State capital Bhubaneswar, as per the Swachh Survekshan report processes 98.63 per cent waste, while Sundargarh Municipality processes over 99 per cent.
The report, however, indicates Odisha’s performance in waste processing is better as compared to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand where it is only 34 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, however, the percentage remains close to 80.
Apart from waste processing, the report indicates Odisha has around 40 lakh tonne of legacy waste of which less than 1 lakh tonne has been disposed off. Processing of legacy waste will help the state reclaim around 400 ha land in urban areas.
Not so clean