Chandigarh is the cleanest Punjab city to live in, while Hoshiarpur is the dirtiest, according to a nationwide survey by the Union Urban Development Ministry.
Ten months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wielded the broom in the Capital to promote cleanliness as part of his pet Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a majority of north Indian cities continue to fare poorly on two key sanitation parameters — solid-waste management and containing open defecation. The survey that covered 476 cities and municipalities (with a population of more than 1 lakh each) in 31 states and Union territories has ranked Chandigarh at 21, followed by Jalandhar at 28 on these these two key sanitation parameters, while Hoshiarpur is 447. Amritsar is also way down on the list at 430, while Ludhiana is ranked 381.
Of the 17 cities surveyed in Punjab, seven are ranked in the bottom 100. At number one, Mysore is the cleanest city in India, followed by Tiruchirappalli, Navi Mumbai, Kochi, Hassan, Mandya and Bangalore.
Overall, southern states have fared well, with 39 cities among the top 100, followed by 27 from east, 15 from west, 12 from north, and 7 from northeastern states. Among the bottom 100 cities, 74 are from northern states, 21 from east, three from west, and two from south.
To arrive at the rankings, the ministry used a combination of secondary data of respective cities based on-ground inspection on how many households used own toilet; whether public/community toilets were functional; establishments covered by daily door-to-door garbage collection; and the proportion of waste processed in a recycling facility operated by municipalities, etc.
“The survey is part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the urban areas and would be done every year. Cities that fare well consistently on sanitation parameters will get an incentive of 10% from the Centre’s share of Rs 14,623 crore,” said a senior official in the Urban Development Ministry. Of Rs 62,009 crore earmarked for the mission till 2019, while the Centre’s contribution is Rs 14,623 crore, state governments would fork out Rs 4,874 crore. The remaining Rs 42,512 crore is to be borne by the private sector mainly.