Chennai had little to cheer when the list of 476 cities in India assessed for cleanliness was released on Saturday . While it stands at 61 overall in the `Swachh Bharat' list, among capital cities too it did not make the top 10, ranking a lowly 12th.
The lack of public toilets and poor sewerage system seem to have done the city in, while neighbouring Karnataka's capital Bengaluru was adjudged the cleanest capital city in the country.
However, in a surprising development, Trichy was declared the second cleanest city overall after Mysuru. Among the 29 cities surveyed in Tamil Nadu, Madurai and Coimbatore also managed to get into the top 200. The Union territory of Puducherry was ranked 23. It may be the nation's capital but Delhi is so filthy that it ranked among the bottom 100, at a lowly 379. But its elite zone, administered by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation, ranked a high 16th on the list.
Not just Delhi, most parts of north India have done badly in the survey conducted by the ministry of urban development. Only 12 cities from the north are in the top 100. The south swept 39 ranks, the east 27, west 15 and northeast 7.
The ranking used three methodologies -primary data from municipal bodies, field inspection and ground interaction with people. The survey also assessed status of septage management (disposal of sewage from septic tanks), waste water treatment, drinking water quality , surface quality of water bodies, and mortality due to water-borne diseases. Mysore is India's cleanest municipal area and Damoh in Madhya Pradesh the dirtiest.Bengaluru tops state capitals in the list and Patna stands last.
Here is a stunner for Delhi loyalists who never tire of comparing their city's clean and green environs to Mumbai's chaos -Greater Mumbai actually stands way above the capital, 147th in the list, and Navi Mumbai ranks an impressive No 3.
The list includes only Class I cities with a population of more than one lakh.Patna municipal area ranks the lowest among state capitals, ending at No 429. Chandigarh, which was the clean est city in 2014, has slipped to No 21 this year.
West Bengal has done exceptionally well, with 25 municipal areas in the state making it to the top 100 cities.Though Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of municipal areas, only Etawah has made it to the best 100.
“Mysore leads the cities with minimal open defecation and extensive adoption of solid waste management practices,“ said an official statement. Sources said this ranking shows that smaller municipal areas are managed better while bigger ones face huge problems in dealing with dirt.
A ministry spokesperson said that since the Swachh Bharat Mission is being implemented in urban areas with a focus on the construction of toilets in households and public areas to eradicate open defecation and ensure door-to-door collection and disposal of municipal solid waste. This explains the use of the two primary parameters in the survey.
“This survey will help assess the present situation in these cities so that they can undertake necessary interventions to meet SBM targets in urban areas,“ the spokesperson said.
In a development that has surprised even its administration, Trichy has been declared the second cleanest city in the country as per a `Swacch Bharat' ranking by the Union ministry of urban development.Mysuru, meanwhile, emerged the cleanest city .Chennai, at 61, is well below New Delhi (16), Puducherry (23) and Kolkata (56).
The ministry assessed 476 class-1 cities across 31 states and Union territories on total sanitation practices covering a set of parameters, including the extent of open defecation, solid waste management and waste water treatment. Among state and Union territory capitals, Chennai is ranked 12.
In Tamil Nadu, 29 cities and towns with more than 1 lakh population were surveyed and of these Madurai and Coimbatore, apart from Trichy and Chennai, have made it to the top 200. While Madurai is at 20, Coimbatore is at 196.
Many officials of the Trichy corporation, however, are not aware of such a survey by the Union government. The Trichy district administra tion credited the `second cleanest city' tag to the effective solid waste management.Residents, however, expressed surprise over the sudden recognition, especially in the absence of basic infrastructure in the city.
Trichy corporation commissioner M Vijayalakshmi said: “The city has been successful to a certain extent in controlling open defecation.This has been possible only due to community toilet management and ensuring locals manage their toilets in the re spective areas.“ Door-to-door collection of garbage also helped the city get the second rank, she said.
Consumer activist and Consumer Protection Council secretary S Pushpavanam questioned the parameters fixed by the ministry to gauge acity's cleanliness. “In Trichy, the laying of underground drainage system and storm water drainage is yet to be completed,“ he said.
Activist Paul Guna Loganath said most of the drainage channels were breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Garbage accumulates for days and it affects public health of residents, he added.
Residents of Coimbatore, on the other hand, expressed displeasure over the city's low ranking. “Coimbatore is at the bottom of the ranking among cities in the state due to lack of waste water management. Only one facility is there to treat waste water and to discharge sewage,“ Residents Awareness Association of India secretary R Raveendran told TOI from Coimbatore. Apart from waste water management, the city must have fulfilled the other parameters, he said.
The residents of the city are also practicing source segregation of solid waste and till August 7, nearly 10% of the total 800 tonnes of garbage collected within the city has been segregated. Open defecation is more or less absent within the city limits but in semi-urban areas it is prevalent, said Raveendran.
Littered streets, failed civic plans push Chennai down rankings
Chennai:
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The Union ministry of urban development released the Swachh Bharat rankings on Saturday and Chennai has put up a poor show. While Bengaluru tops the list of cleanest capital cities, Chennai is at 12th -61st overall -after New Delhi, Puducherry and Kolkata.
The survey , conducted during 2014-15 under the National Sanitation Policy of 2008, included parameters like open defecation, solid waste management, waste water and sewage management, quality of drinking water and mortality due to water-borne diseases.
Chennai Corporation and Metrowater are responsible for these civic facilities, but have always fallen short of expectations.For instance, people in several areas complain of sewage getting mixed with drinking water. Several pipelines, laid at least three decades ago, have developed cracks and get blocked.
The city has also failed to meet the standards of cleanliness, despite vigorously taking up a Clean Chennai campaign that is yet to be launched officially . Also, many of the corporation's proposals in infrastructure and conservancy operations remain on paper.
Last year, the corporation announced it would set up more than 1,000 modular toilets across 348 locations in areas where people defecate in the open. After missing two deadlines, the civic body has set a deadline this August. However, the toilets installed so far do not have water, electricity or sewerage connections.
When it comes to keeping the streets clean, there is a mixed re sponse from the people. While residents of Sowcarpet and Tondiarpet allege that garbage is never cleared in their areas, residents in other areas blame the public for littering.
A team of residents on 4th Seaward Road, Thiruvanmiyur led by resident Shantha Kumar used to clean the beach every Sunday .“We gave up now as there is no change of attitude among people,“ Kumar said.
“Both the government and people are at fault,“ said president of the Federation of Adyar Residents' Associations. “People are undisciplined and litter everywhere. Urination is such a common sight in the city that it is important for corporation to build toilets that are usable.“
The 5,000 tonnes of waste generated in Chennai every day is one of the highest in the country , yet, corporation's several attempts at source segregation have failed. Recently , the corporation shelved the plan to collect segregated garbage from households in four zones --Alandur, Perungudi, Sholinganallur and Valasaravakkam owing to high costs.
Corpn to buy 7,000 bins; waste mgmt plans gain speed
Chennai:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
If more garbage bins mean a cleaner city, Chennai has hopes. The corporation will buy more than 7,000 green and blue compactor bins soon, officials said.
Some of the bins will replace old ones, while some will be placed additionally . The bins will have capacities ranging from 600 litres to 1,100 litres.
The state government, meanwhile, has given the nod for the corporation to call for tenders to set up solid waste management plants at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi within the existing dump yards, shelving the plans for plants at Minjur and Kuthambakkam. Each of the waste-to-energy plant will be able to treat and recycle 2,000 tonnes of organic waste and 2,500 tonnes of inorganic waste.
Every day , Chennai's homes, institutions, hotels and industries generate more than 5,000 tonnes of waste that now makes its way to the toxic dumping grounds at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi.
The proposed waste management plants will have additional facilities to handle extra waste, officials said. Once corporation begins treating garbage with these plants, they will begin remediation and permanent scientific closure of the two dump yards. Officials promise that this will put an end to the problems faced by Kodungaiyur and Perungudi residents as there would be no more dumping.
`Swachh Bharat' ranking serves as a wake-up call for Tamil Nadu cities
Chennai:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Trichy being ranked as the second cleanest city in India may have brought some cheer, but the dirty scandal is that only four of 29 TN cities figure among the top 200.
Officials trot out an excuse for the poor show: When the Swachh Bharat survey was being carried out, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa was not the CM and the civic administration couldn't be revved up.But the excuse only reveals a deeper truth: The state doesn't have a working system to deliver essential civic services in place.
The Swachh Bharat rankings were based on a total of 42 marks including 20 for open defecation indicators and 22 for solid waste management indicators. The survey assessed disposal of sewage from septic tanks, waste water treatment, drinking water quality , surface quality of water bodies, and mortality due to water-borne diseases.
Trichy's laurels don't seem to hold any lessons for other cities. Though the mayor A Jaya took credit for the ranking, the officials were a bit taken aback. Civic activists in Trichy aver that the relative cleanliness of Srirangam, a heritage town and until recently represented by Jayalalithaa, probably helped. They also lament that the source segregation and waste recycling that Exnora initiated some 20 years ago was railroaded by removing citizens from the waste management equation and contracting out the process a process that was repeated in Chennai too.
Trichy can boast of a rare citizen-led effort to clean up a waterbody . Thaneer Iyakkam, a voluntary organization, was instrumental in prompting the administration to take steps to clean the 1,000-yearold Uyyakondan canal that had become a sewage drain.
Madurai officials are patting themselves for the city's 20th rank. The emphasis on keeping the area around Meenakshi Amman temple likely helped in the ranking. But sewage treatment and incomplete underground drainage works are major challenges.Corporation commissioner C Kathiravan says, “We are now concentrating on segregating garbage at source level. People are being sensitized.“ Just as in Chennai, the infrastructure in added areas 28 wards to 72 -needs to be upgraded.
The cotton city of Coimba tore has come a cropper and is ranked 196, with officials doubting the ranking's criteria. Coimbatore has fared poorly in solid waste management as well as open defecation due to the absence of toilets in households. But officials say the corporation has established a solid waste management part at Bharathi Park where waste is segregated by sanitary workers.
To residents coping with a civic disaster, Chennai's rankings probably didn't come as a surprise. With Cooum remaining a basket case and waste management initiatives floundering, officials now talk about setting up a scientific waste disposal facility within the dumping yards at Perungudi and Kodungaiyur. But it's an old idea that was given up since the nearby localities fear the plants would only increase the release of toxins.
(With inputs from Deva nathan Veerappan, Sambath Kumar , A Subburaj)
