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Aiming to improve the rank in annual Swachh Survekshan surveys, Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) will apply for 7-star garbage-free city rating under the garbage-free city certification in April.
As per the officials, the city’s civic body fulfils all the pre-qualifying conditions to attain the highest ranking from the union ministry of housing and urban affairs, including door to door collection of waste, source segregation, waste processing and remediation of dump site.
As per the guidelines and criteria set by the union government, the cities are given star ratings of 1, 3, 5 and 7. The star rating protocol for 5 and 7 star categories is based on as many as 16 important and 8 inspirational indicators. The indicators include—door to door collection of waste, source segregation, plastic ban, processing of bulk waste generators, dump site remediation, grievance redressal, city beautification, processing of sanitary and domestic hazardous waste and others.
In case a city does not meet the requirement of the star rating under which it has applied, it will then be validated and certified for the lower rating for which it is eligible.
Chandigarh has been certified as 3 star-garbage free city (GFC) certification on March 25, 2022, and is appearing for higher certification in April this year.
A senior MC official said, “With higher ranking, the city will get improved scores in the Swachh Survekshan surveys, which will help Chandigarh to attain even better rankings. Chandigarh meets the pre-qualifying conditions and we are hopeful for getting the highest rankings. The general house of the MC has already approved the preliminary resolution of declaring Chandigarh as a 7-star garbage free city.”
Improving from last year’s performance by one position, Chandigarh was adjudged as the 11th most cleanest city among those with population exceeding 1 lakh in the 2023 Swachh Survekshan rankings declared on January 11. Chandigarh also bagged the award for the best “Safaimitra Surakshit Shehar” in the country, reflecting its attention to safety standards for sanitation workers.
In a first, the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs also shared a report card for each city in which Chandigarh scored a sparkling 100% in five categories — waste segregation vs processing, cleanliness of markets, residential areas, water bodies and public toilets.
The city also secured 99% in door-to-door garbage collection, 97% in segregation of waste at source, but only 67% in remediation of dump sites, primarily due to the legacy waste dumped at the Dadumajra landfill in the city.
In 2016, Chandigarh was ranked second best among 73 cities. In the 2017 rankings, the city stood 11th among 434 cities and in 2018, it was third among 4,203 cities. In 2019, Chandigarh’s national ranking dropped to 20 but again improved with 8th rank in 2020. The city’s ranking slipped to 16th in 2021, but in 2022, the city performed better as it bagged the 12th rank.
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