The city’s quest for cleanest city tag under Swachh Survekshan 2020 rests on public feedback to a large extent as 25% (1,500) of 6,000 marks are earmarked for it. The remaining 4,500 are earmarked for Direct Observation (1,500) Service Level Progress (1,500), Garbage-Free City (1,000) and Open Defecation Free (500).
The MCC will go on overdrive to elicit positive feedback from the public and encourage them to participate in the SS2020 by downloading the Swachhta App or by calling 1969 and answering 7 questions. Apart from educational institutions, the MCC will also hold an extensive interaction with professional bodies like associations of hotel owners, lawyers, doctors, NGOs, etc.
MCC Health Officer D.G. Nagaraj pointed out that Mysuru was relegated to third place behind Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Ambikapur in Chattisgarh. The difference between Mysuru and Ambikapur was hardly 30 marks and this was attributed to the poor response from the public to the survey in 2019.
Of a total of 1,250, Mysuru secured 972 and the yawning margin of 278 affected its overall ranking.On Service Level Progress, the city scored 1,195 of 1,250 — the highest among the ULBs. It secured 200 of 250 for ODF certification and 800 of 1,000 under garbage free rating. The marks for service level progress and garbage free city and ODF are based on the physical progress achieved and calls for creating infrastructure to collect, dispose and recycle waste. This is not something that can be done overnight but has taken years of consistent effort. The net impact of the service level progress will be on Direct Observation wherein third party auditors will come in for site-specific inspection and upload photographs from the spot to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs server and provide feedback.
“Details of availability of toilets with geographical locations and the city map with slums, etc., are already with the inspecting team as these details are to be uploaded by ULBs to the MoHUA to provide a real-time update on the cleanliness of the city,” according to Dr.Nagaraj.
