2018 Swachh survey: North and East bodies still lag in ranking

The South civic body is the only corporation which has a budget surplus, while the North and East have a deficit of over hundred crores.

This year too, the North and East municipal corporations have fared poorly in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 released on Saturday. Of 4,203 local bodies surveyed, the east corporation ranked 341 and the North corporation secured the 206th position. However, the South Corporation took a big leap, moving to the 32nd position from last year’s 202. The South body, which is one of richest civic bodies in the country, still lags behind cities like Ranchi, Indore, Pune, Jamshedpur and Warangal.

The New Delhi Municipal Council, meanwhile, came fourth — three places up from last year. Lutyens’ Delhi was also declared the cleanest municipal area among small urban local bodies having one-three lakh population. To encourage cities to actively implement mission initiatives, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conducted its third cleanliness survey. It covered 4,203 cities, including 61 cantonment boards. Indore ranked first, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh. During the survey, feedback from 37.66 lakh citizens was collected.

A senior official from the North Corporation said, “We have shown a small leap by securing the 206th rank as compared to last year’s 279. But have a long way to go. The financial constraint comes in the way of many of our initiatives… this is why both the East and North bodies have not moved up in the rankings.”

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Mayor of North Corporation Adesh Gupta added, “We are not just facing a challenge of resources but also of geography. There are several unauthorised colonies in north Delhi where compactors can’t go. We are now buying machines that are smaller and can reach the congested lanes of the cities.”

The South civic body is the only corporation which has a budget surplus, while the North and East have a deficit of over hundred crores.