HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Saturday received the 'Best Self Sustainable City' award in the Swachh Survekshan rankings 2021. However, in the overall category, the city ranked 37 competing with 4,320 cities nationally. During the previous year the city got 65th rank. The award ceremony, organised by the ministry of housing & urban affairs (MoHUA) to recognise the good work done for Swachhata by towns/cities, states and Union Territories under various initiatives of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), viz. Swachh Survekshan 2021, Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, and certifications for garbage-free star rating for cities saw more than 300 awards being presented throughout the day.
This is the first time that urban local bodies (ULBs) in Telangana get a dozen awards in different categories. Karimnagar Municipal Corporation received the Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge, a first-of-its-kind challenge aimed at the safety and well-being of sanitation workers. It was among the three winners of the award aimed at preventing hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and promoting mechanised cleaning. Secunderabad Cantonment was also declared as a winner under Swachh Survekshan-2021. Various cities in Andhra Pradesh secured better ranks. Vijayawada ranked 3, Tirupati 8 and Visakhapatnam 24.
The GHMC also received 3-star rating in garbage-free city (GFC) with water plus ODF certification. Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) was also declared as a winner which ranked 141 at the national level and 10 in the state. Competing with 62 cantonment boards SCB ranked 7. Winners of these challenges were declared by the ministry of housing and urban affairs and felicitated during the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav event in New Delhi on Saturday. The other ULBs which received the awards are Siricilla (cleanest city in the south zone with 50,000 to 1 lakh population), Siddipet (self sustainable city with 50,000 to 1 lakh population in the south zone), Nizampet Municipal Corporation, Ibrahimpatnam, Ghatkesar, Kosgi and Husnabad.
For the fifth consecutive year, Indore was awarded the title of India’s cleanest city under Swachh Survekshan, while Surat and Vijayawada bagged the second and third spots respectively in the more than 1 lakh population category. In the population category of ‘less than 1 lakh’, Vita, Lonavala and Saswad, all in Maharashtra, bagged the first, second and third positions respectively. Varanasi emerged the best Ganga town while Ahmedabad Cantonment won the title of ‘India’s Cleanest Cantonment’, followed by Meerut Cantonment and Delhi Cantonment. In the category of fastest mover, Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh) emerged as the ‘Fastest Mover City’ (in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category) with a jump of 274 ranks from 361st position in the 2020 rankings to the 87th position this year, thus securing a place among the top 100 cities.
MoHUA conducted national-level sanitation challenges such as the Swachh Survekshan and Garbage Free City Rating from August 2020 to May 2021 and Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge from November 2020 to August 2021, which are aimed at improving the overall sanitation condition, enhancing citizen awareness and engagement towards waste management across all 4,300 cities and towns in the country.
