City fares poorly in Swachh survey

Coimbatore: The city has slumped to its worst-ever Swachh Survekshan survey ranking, dropping to 46th from 16th in 2018, among the 48 cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. The civic body earned only 2308.41 points out of 6,000.
Cities are ranked on three parameters - service-level progress (efficiency in solid waste management), certifications (garbage-free city and open defecation-free) and citizen’s voice. Coimbatore secured 1,079.98 out of 2,400 points in the service-level progress, 928.43 in citizen’s voice and 300 in certification.
“While the city earned good marks in the citizen’s voice category, it was found deficient in certifications,” corporation commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara said. “Issues in door-to-door garbage collection and streamlining waste collection failed the civic body.”
The civic body needs to improve solid waste collection, said G S Kalidoss, a resident of Gandhi Managar. “Garbage has been piling up on streets as they are not frequently cleaned. Residents should behave responsibly to improve garbage disposal,” he told TOI.
Expressing reservations about the new ranking, activist K Kathirmathiyon said he did not experience any significant degradation in cleanliness. “I am not a big fan of Swachh rankings as I don’t believe they are carried out in a transparent manner. However, the garbage problem should be sorted out,” he said.
Among other cities in Tamil Nadu, Chennai secured the 43rd rank with a score of 2,781. Madurai was at 47th with a score of 2,207.
The corporation has received guidelines for the next year’s ranking, Sunkara said. “Neutral teams will inspect city neighbourhoods between January and March next year and chart out plans to improve the next ranking. We want residents to support us in waste segregation and disposal,” he added.