Kochi ranks low in cleanliness

KOCHI: With Kochi struggling with waste management issues, comes another dampener. The Kochi Corporation has been ranked at a pitiable 409th position in the Swachh Survekshan 2019, the cleanliness survey undertaken by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

While the officials say it was certain parameters in the survey that resulted in the Corporation's poor ranking, they believe the civic body has put up a better show as compared to last year. According to former Health Standing Committee chairperson V K Minimol, the survey was actually held amidst the National Green Tribunal's visit to the Brahmapuram Waste Treatment Plant.

"Had we concentrated on the survey, we would have failed to clear the hurdles with regard to the Brahmapuram plant. Failing to satisfy the NGT team during their visit may have cost the corporation dear.

They would have slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore on us," said V K Minimol. She said some parameters in the Swach Sarvekshan was also difficult to clear.

"We are yet to get the Open Defecation Free Status, especially in the P&T Colony. For this, we lost nearly 100 points. This actually pushed us down in the ranking chart. We hope to improve our ranking next year," she added.

According to the present Health Standing Committee chairperson Prathiba Ansari, steps are being taken in this direction. "We are working towards improving the status. Since waste management is always a huge issue for us, we are taking this very seriously. At the moment, we are focusing on waste segregation and holding talks with all stakeholders," said Prathibha.

While Kozhikode Corporation has been placed in the 299th position, Thiruvananthapuram is placed at the 363rd position. Alappuzha Municipality is ranked highest in the state at 256, thanks to its successful implementation of the decentralised system of waste management, which won accolades from all quarters.  
In 2018, Kochi didn't feature in the ranking list while in 2017, it was in the 271st position. Certification, direct observation, service-level progress and citizen feedback are the yardsticks of the survey held across 4,237 cities.

Other cities

While Kozhikode Corporation has been placed in the 299th position, Thiruvananthapuram is placed at the 363rd position. Alappuzha Municipality is ranked highest in the state at 256, thanks to its implementation of the decentralised waste management system.