Kochi to fail cleanliness test again

KOCHI: With officials of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development visiting Kochi next week as part of the Swachh Survekshan 2018, poor garbage management and the failure to achieve open defecation free tag would adversely impact the city’s prospects to improve its ranking in the cleanliness index. The Central team is visiting cities and towns in the state to inspect the sanitation conditions and the report will be submitted by the month-end, based on which the cleanliness ranking will be announced.

Waste removal from city areas has been slowed down for the last several months after the civic body introduced new norms for garbage collection. Garbage heaps have started resurfacing in many parts of the city recently which will definitely dampen the chances for better ranking. Corporation health committee chairperson V.K Minimol said that more trucks had to be hired to remove piled up garbage before the visit of the Central team. “All necessary documents asked by the Ministry officials for verification have been prepared. But, slowdown in garbage transportation to Brahmapuram plant and lack of ODF status will adversely impact the sanitation standards,” she said.

The city is yet to achieve ODF status as community toilets were not constructed in two colonies in the city due to lack of space. Though the civic body completed construction of 1950 toilets for beneficiaries selected in the initial phase, construction of community toilets could not be completed. The Union ministry is considering 500 cities with more than one lakh population for national ranking while 3541 towns with less than a lakh population are considered for state/regional ranking.  Last year, none of the cities from the state could enter the top-20 list. Thiruvananthapuram was the worst performer from the State with a rank of 372.  Kochi was ranked  at 271 while Kozhikode was at 254.