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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

12/01/24 06:31 AM IST

Swachh Survekshan rankings

In News
  • For the seventh year in a row, Indore has been ranked as the cleanest city in India under the Central government’s annual Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023.
Methodology for rankings
  • The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry presents the awards, which began as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
  • The methodology for measuring cleanliness rests on two main criteria – citizen feedback and field assessment.
  • As the subject of sanitation comes under state governments, they are tasked with entering updated data on the Swachh Bharat Mission Management Information System (MIS).
  • Then each of the areas being judged, say segregated garbage collection, will be “validated through Citizen Validation conducted in Residential and Commercial Areas in each ward on sampling basis.”
  • Questions related to waste collection and its frequency are then asked of citizens and validated accordingly. On-field assessors are to visit households/shops randomly to record responses. The criteria vary slightly as per the issue being surveyed.
  • For example, to judge the kind of technical support provided to sanitation workers, the marking scheme takes into account whether Identity cards (IDs) are issued to informal waste pickers, if PPE kits are given, etc.
Indore system for cleanliness
  • A sustainable system of garbage collection, processing and disposal has been developed in Indore. The city’s consecutive success in the National Cleanliness Survey is based on this strong foundation.
  • Indore targeted the various indicators mapped in the survey early on. A slew of measures included changes to the sanitation and waste collection system, as well as popularising these initiatives among citizens to build better habits around sanitation.
  • Terminating the private contract given for the collection and disposal of solid waste, Nagar Nigam took on this work and drew new strategies.
  • NGOs were also involved and went door-to-door to make people aware of handing over their garbage directly to the municipality vehicles, for a monthly charge for each household.
  • In some instances, corporation workers refused to collect households’ garbage bags unless they had been segregated.
  • In 2016, when 3,000 dustbins were installed every 500 metres for Rs 2.3 crore, at least 1,200 ragpickers lost their jobs.
  • Eventually, the IMC absorbed 1,000 garbage collectors and most of the ragpickers, adding them to the force of 8,000 new ‘Safai Mitras’ who were tasked with collecting and transporting waste.
  • Nearly 692 tonnes of wet waste, 683 tonnes of dry waste and 179 tonnes of plastic waste are now collected every day in the city under different categories.
  • For this, around 850 specially designed vehicles are employed, having different compartments for bio-waste items like diapers and sanitary napkins.
  • The waste from households in the city is collected after segregation under six categories at the doorstep.
  • The NGOs also did the groundwork for identifying areas in the city in need of urinals and toilets to tackle the challenge of open defecation – also checked under the survey.
  • Around 1,000 free dustbins were distributed to vehicle owners to encourage them to not throw waste out of windows.
  • The IMC also issued spot fines from Rs 250 to Rs 500 against people spitting on roads, urinating in the open, or littering.
Source- Indian Express

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