Process of rating garbage-free cities begins

NEW DELHI: The ministry of urban affairs has launched the first workshop on star rating of garbage-free cities under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Officials said that the star rating of garbage-free cities would create healthy competition among cities across the country.

Urban affairs secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said that the exercise was aimed at achieving the goals of cleanliness and 100 per cent solid waste management. On Wednesday, the first workshop was organized by the ministry, and was attended by more than 250 Urban Local Body (ULB) officials, including mayors and commissioners from New Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and neighbouring ULBs of Uttar Pradesh.

Officials said that the workshop was held to familiarize and build the capacities of state and city officials and other relevant stakeholders with regard to the newly launched Star Rating Protocol of Garbage- Free Cities, which is a holistic evaluation system for the solid waste management (SWM) value chain.

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) focuses on two key objectives- eradication of open defecation and 100 per cent scientific solid waste management across all 4,041 statutory towns and cities. The 7-star rating is innovatively designed on a SMART (Single metric, Measurable, Achievable, Rigorous verification and Targeted towards outcomes) approach, making it the first-of-its kind rating tool for assessing the cleanliness of cities and towns in India.

The system, based on 12 parameters, builds on the spirit of healthy competition among cities and the aspiration of cities to progress towards higher standards of “Swachhata” and its sustainability. This was the first in a series of 17 workshops scheduled to be held in different states by June 2018 to institutionalize the protocol towards a Garbage-Free India.