Bengaluru outclassed in Swachh Survekshan 2019 with 2-star ranking

BENGALURU: In 2019 the Swachh Survekshan is underway as the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) has already barred the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from ranking itself a 3-star and above as the city has not yet been certified to be open defecation (ODF) free.

A survey is being conducted to identify the garbage-free cities and also to promote public participation in making urban agglomerations a better place to live in, the Swachh Survekshan 2019 covers 4,000 cities, but Bengaluru has been outclassed. 

BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad had told a source that, “We have not been certified as OF yet by MaHUA as per guidelines and, therefore, the BBMP is barred from applying for 3 stars and above. Once we are certified as ODF, we can apply for 3-star and above ratings. The BBMP council has now approved ODF.” 

The poor rating of Bengaluru in Swachh Survekshan 2019 is because of the many diseases that plague through the waste management and disposal system. Mysore city, which holds the top Swachh ranking for two consecutive times, has declared itself a seven-star garbage-free city. 

However, in the year 2018, Mysore has dropped to the 8th position from the 5th slot in 2017. Mysore city corporation commissioner KH Jagadeesh said they are confident that the ranking of the city will improve this time.

According to the officials of the Palike, the corporation has approved 2,995 applications for the purpose of constructing individual toilets in households since October last year and, of them, 1,639 toilets have been built.

MoHUA will be carrying out a third-party verification and the certification will be done for 3-star, 5-star and 7-star garbage-free ratings.