Uphill climb for Kochi to retain clean tag

KOCHI: For Kochi city, which has nosedived to the 55th position in the Swachh Bharath Mission cleanliness index in 2015 as against the 4th position in 2014, it is a tough task to improve the sanitation standards this year. Even though the Swachh Bharat Mission has already begun the preparatory works ahead of the survey for finalising the ranking, the civic administration is yet to wake up to its modalities and methodology.

Factors such as crisis in plastic waste collection and management, dilapidated condition of Brahma-puram treatment plant and delay in setting up sewage treatment plants are likely to hit the city’s prospects for better ranking. In the ranking procedure, topmost priority is given to door-to-door collection, sweeping, collection and transportation of municipal solid waste with a weightage of 40 per cent.

Meanwhile, corporation health committee chairperson Adv. V.K Minimol told this newspaper that the civic body has been asked to submit names of two best performing residents’ associations and sanitation workers. “A video conference was also convened recently by the ministry of urban development on the ranking procedure of Swachh Bharat Mission. However, no clear instructions were given on the criteria for deciding the ranking,” she said.

Last year, lack of adequate number of clean public toilets was one of the major reasons for Kochi’s poor ranking. The issue is yet to be addressed. Interestingly, no town from the state could find a position in the first 15 clean cities in the country in 2015. Thiruvananthapuram was in the 40th position while Kozhikode ranked at 44. Mysore was the top ranking city with Chandigarh and Thiruchirapalli in the second and third position.