Swachh rankings: Gurugram gains 22 spots

GURUGRAM: The city put in an improved performance to rank 62 in the Swachh Survekshan 2020 — its best performance so far — in the category of cities with a population of 1 lakh to 10 lakh. The city was ranked 83 last year. A total of 4,242 cities were covered in the annual survey this year, the results of which were announced on Thursday.

Using a host of indicators, the Swachh Survekshan rankings assess progress made under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan project to find out how clean (or dirty) India’s cities are. The 2020 ranking has been the best survey ranking so far for Gurugram, MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh claimed.
In 2016, Gurugram ranked 36, which technically is its best ranking yet, but that was only out of a pool of 73 cities. In 2017, it stood at 112 among 434 cities. In 2018, out of 420 urban local bodies, Gurgaon ranked 105 while in 2019, it ranked 83 out of 425 cities.
With a score of 3,733.97 out of 6,000 points this year, Gurugram ranked at number four in Haryana after Panchkula (56), Rohtak (35) and Karnal (17). With a score of 2646.69 points, neighbouring Faridabad ranks at number 38 in the population category of more than 10 lakh. It is the only district of Haryana ranked in this category.
Assessment was divided into four categories — direct observation, citizen feedback, service level progress and certification — with 1,500 marks each. Gurugram scored 1,249 points in direct observation, 1,141.49 in citizen’s feedback, 843.48 in service-level progress and 500 points in certification categories.
MCG officials attributed this high rank scores to proper management of solid waste disposal. “The construction and demolition waste plant at Basai has contributed to Gurugram scoring more in Swachh rankings. It had been set up by last year but was not operational then. This time, MCG also procured 10 sweeping machines, which are being used in several areas of the city,” an official said.
MCG chief Singh said the city couldn’t get the garbage-free city (GFC) tag this year, which would have further improved the ranking. Last year, the city was given two stars for GFC.
“We missed out on the GFC rating, which impacted our score. We have resolved to work on improving sanitation in the city in the coming months. Residents will have to play a more active role in supporting sanitation initiatives undertaken by MCG. Awareness about waste segregation has increased, but we would have to practice it on a wider scale,” Singh said.