Thiruvananthapuram: Waste management is the issue that nags city residents most, reveals a survey conducted as part of ‘Smart Cities Challenge’. This would be one of the criteria for deciding which sector and which suggestion should be chosen to prepare Thiruvananthapuram’s proposal for the challenge.
Participants of the ‘smart city campaign’ discussions were distributed forms and asked to rank 24 issues identified by the Union government based on what needed to be treated with priority. While the consolidation of data and its analysis is still not over, waste management emerged a clear winner, as it was mentioned in almost every form.
“The number of people who think that waste management is the topmost issue should be more than 90%, though we are still studying the data. Even in cases where people ranked mobility issue as the main problem, waste management would be a close second,” says an official involved in the project.
The sample size is more than 10,000. These would include residents’ association members and other stakeholders in various wards, experts in various sectors as well as focus groups like Technopark professionals, doctors and transgender persons.
The issues listed in the form are from a broad spectrum of sectors like water and electricity supply, housing, health, education, safety and security of citizens, livelihood opportunities, e-governance, and IT infrastructure.
The other issues which figured in many of the suggestions were – increased incidence of lifestyle diseases, communicable diseases, lack of good roads and lack of parking facilities.
However, the officials working on the project say that it is too early to decide which would be the top 5 issues. “Some of the issues are interlinked. For example, waste management issues and health can be connected. A solution for one can lead to solving another,” said an official. Stray dog issue was not part of the list but had been mentioned in many a ward committee meeting minutes.
