COIMBATORE: Coimbatore city secured a lowly 182nd place in the clean cities (Swachh Survekshan 2023) ranking list released by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Thursday.
Coimbatore, which ranked a respectable 42 in 2022, plunged down over 100 places to hit 182nd spot in 2023 out of the 446 cities that were ranked.
Social activists cited poor knowledge and planning by the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) as the reason behind the drastic dip in the ranking.
Speaking to TNIE, Environmentalists & Secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee, K S Mohan said, “The CCMC is not taking any serious steps to cut down on the garbage piled up across the city and in Vellalore dump yard. Coimbatore has become a garbage city. Even the National Green Tribunal had expressed its disappointment over the solid waste management efforts of the CCMC. In winter foul smell from the Vellalore dump yard spreads in the mornings.”
He also added, “It would have been acceptable if they had either improved their rankings or slipped just a few places down, but dropping from 42 to 182 in just a year is unacceptable. The CCMC and its officials do not have proper knowledge of planning solid waste management in the city. ”
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner, M Sivaguru Prabakaran said, “We scored less in waste processing and on collection criteria. Our ranking dipped due to some issues in these aspects. We have planned to renovate and run all the Micro-Composting Centres (MCCs) and Material Recovery Fcilities (MRF) at their full potential. We have also sent a proposal to the government for a biomining project and for setting up biogas plants to improve solid waste management. We will take all the necessary steps and improve the rankings by next year.”