Dirty picture: Bengaluru once again fare poorly in 'Swachh Survekshan' rankings

Bengaluru: In a major embarrassment to BBMP, the city has once again fared poorly in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 survey. In fact it has slipped a few notches to 216th position, from last year’s 210.

In the report released on Saturday, Mysuru too slipped to eighth position, from fifth last year. This year’s survey covered 4,203 cities and 26 cities from the state figured among top 500 cities.

Bengaluru managed to get only 2001.98 score out of 4,000. It was judged on parameters such as solid waste management, segregation of garbage at source, garbage processing, sanitation, building toilets, financial sustainability of local bodies and implementation of innovative and best practices.

As for the city’s poor ranking, Ram Prasad, solid waste expert and co-founder of Friends of Lakes said "Time to analyse and sincerely introspect than sulk or blame or find excuses. Need to take up implementation of the Solid Waste Management policy, process and documentation head-on than soft-pedaling."

He further said that a sense of pride to be Bengalurean has to be inculcated for behavioral change by strict implementation and awareness drives.

Slamming the civic body, Prasad said that it is their lack of interest and failure to fully understand the process of Survekshan survey among all, including elected representatives, bureaucracy, administration and citizens have led to poor rankings year after year.

However, brand expert Harish Bijoor felt the city’s size was a liability. He said, "Big cities have a slippery presence in rankings. It is all about big city issues. A large geography is that much more difficult to manage. And big cities manage mixed masses with mixed sentiments on city hygiene. That is the challenge."

"Bengaluru needs to make a concerted approach on the swachh attitude. I believe dividing BBMP into three is a way to go" he added.

Expressing no surprise over the rankings, Tara Krishnaswamy of Citizens for Bengaluru said, "People in Bengaluru have long complained that we have poor waste management. From collection and segregation to processing and landfills, the government has not focused on this problem. It is mafia dominated and we treat our sanitation workers poorly. Unless the newly elected Karnataka government holds BBMP accountable for its poor record with waste management, we cannot expect a better city.”