In the Swachh Survekshan Survey that was conducted yesterday, Andhra Pradesh has scored big in the Swachh Survekshan 2017 rankings with eight cities and towns from the state, among the top 50 cleanest cities in the country.
Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu released the results in New Delhi. Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati, the major cities of AP, found their rightful place in the survey results. However, it was Vizag, which took the nation by storm, securing a solid and well-deserved third place for its cleanliness and sanitation efforts. In 2016, Vizag was in the fifth rank, in the Swachh Survekshan Survey.
Temple town Tirupati showed significant improvement taking the ninth place. Vijayawada has been ranked as the 19th cleanest city. In the previous year survey, it ranked in the 23rd place. The Visakhapatnam city scored 1,797 points on a scale of 2,000 narrowly missing the top slot (Indore, 1,808) by 11 points and second place by three points (Bhopal, 1,800). Tirupati scored 1,704 points while Vijayawada got 1,624. In 2016, Visakhapatnam scored 1,643 points while Vijayawada got 1,284.
Indore topped the list with 1,808 points followed by Bhopal, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Mysuru, Tiruchirapally, New Delhi Municipal Council, Navi Mumbai, Tirupati, Vadodara and Chandigarh (in that order).
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), to foster healthy competition among cities for improving cleanliness standards, initiated this survey in 2016, rating 73 cities across the country. But this time, the number of cities participating in the survey, went upto 434. From AP alone, around 32 cities and towns participated in the 2017 survey. While eight cities/towns made it to the top 50 cleanest cities list, eight towns from AP got a place in the top 50-100 list. All the cities from the state improved their performances from their rankings, compared in 2016 and 2014-15 surveys.
Apart from the efforts of officials and staff of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), in keeping the city in top form, it is the love of Vizagites for their city, which earned them the “third cleanest city” tag. Over Rs 1.4 lakh Vizagites had submitted their feedback for Swachh Survekshan 2017, which dedicated 600 marks (30% weightage) for citizens’ feedback in the total 2,000.
In the self-declaration category, Vizag scored 869 points, 459 in on-site observation category and 469 in citizen feedback, scoring a total of 1,797 points on a scale of 2,000 points. After the GVMC constructed over 13,000 individual toilets, the city was officially declared as an open defecation free city.
SUPRAJA
