Why Warangal slippery slope in Swachhta ranking!

Warangal: The latest rankings of the Swachh Survekshan-2020 certainly strip the myth surrounding Warangal's 'destination next after Hyderabad' tag.

The 29,233 Warangalites who participated in the feedback of Swachh Survekshan tell that their city is falling apart. Why not? The city that stood at 28th place in the country in 2017 is on a slippery slope at 144th spot. In fact, the city witnessed a gradual fall in the rankings from 28th in 2017 to 31 in 2018 and to 81 in 2019 before finally settling in the mid-200s this year.

While many of the lesser-tagged cities like Karimnagar, Siddipet and Nizamabad are making great leaps in development, it is apparent that Warangal is lagging behind. The other two municipal corporations - Karimnagar and Nizamabad fared better than Warangal in Telangana. Surprisingly, Karimnagar which scored 3602.16 is way ahead of Warangal's 2868.44. Nizamabad stood second in the State by securing 2986.09 score. The evaluation was based on four key parameters - ULB performance, citizen feedback, service level progress and certification, each of it carrying 1500 points. The survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India.

According to Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation officials, the city which is in three to 10 lakh population category is lagging behind in solid waste management including door-to-door collection, processing, and disposal. The city has ODF++ certification. The construction of another 6,500 Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) is pending.

Dwelling on reasons that fell Warangal in the rankings, Greater Warangal Municipal Commissioner Pamela Satpathy said, "Weightage for solid waste management is high and we are in the process of establishing three sewerage treatment plants (STPs). This is where we fell behind in the ranking." This apart, absence of underground drainage (UGD) system in the city is also a major drawback.

Speaking to The Hans India, Urban Administration Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh, Parikipandla Narahari, who played a major role in the success of Indore which finished first in Swachh Survekshan for a fourth straight year, said, "If we can make people understand the benefits of hygienic surroundings, things fall into place automatically. The citizens themselves go after leaders and administration to get things done. We managed to inculcate that spirit among all civic bodies and as a result 20 municipalities of MP are able to find a place in the top 100 Swachh rankings." It may be mentioned here that Narahari belongs to Chintagattu village near Warangal.