DIPR Photo
Mixed report for Nagaland in ‘World’s largest urban sanitation survey’
Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 20
Three towns of Nagaland- Mokokchung, Chümoukedima and Pfütsero won laurels for the State in the Swachh Survekshan 2020 ranking and awards which were declared on August 20.
This is the fifth edition of the survey which was started in the year 2016 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in order to encourage the cities to improve the status of urban sanitation.
Mokokchung town was awarded the Cleanest City in North East India under the population of 25 to 50 thousand category, and fourth overall in the region.
Chümoukedima under Dimapur District was awarded the ‘Best Self Sustainable City’ in North East under the population of 25 to 50 thousand category, while Pfütsero bagged the ‘Best City in Innovation and Best Practices’ under the population up to 25 thousand category in the zonal ranking.
The announcement for 2020 was conducted during a virtual programme of the ‘Swachh Mahotsav 2020’ organised by the MoHUA on Thursday.
According to a DIPR report, Advisor Urban Development & Municipal Affairs, Dr Neikiesalie Nicky Kire, who attended the virtual programme at the State NIC Conference Hall at the Civil Secretariat, congratulated the three winning towns of Nagaland.
He stated that within a short span of time three out of 39 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) in the State were selected for the award and termed it a great achievement for Nagaland.
He said it was possible due to the active participation of the citizens and lauded their efforts.
Kire also expressed hope that there would be better participation from other ULBs as well in the upcoming Swachh Survekshan 2021.
The sixth edition of the survey, Swachh Survekshan 2021 was launched by the ministry last month. The indicators for the survey will focus on parameters pertaining to wastewater treatment and reuse along with faecal sludge.
Overall performance
In what was termed as the ‘World’s largest urban sanitation survey’, 4242 cities (including 62 cantonment boards) were covered in this year’s survey which was conducted from January 1-31.
Indore was named as India's cleanest city for the fourth year in a row, in the category of more than one lakh population. In the category of population of less than 1 lakh, Maharashtra’s Karad bagged the first position.
In the list of states with less than 100 ULBs, Nagaland ranked 9th with a score of 973.11, a far cry away from top ranked Jharkhand which scored 2325.42.
Haryana (1678.84) and Uttarakhand (1230) ranked second and third respectively.
Although Nagaland’s overall performance failed to impress, it was the zonal rankings that saved face for the state this year.
Zonal category
Nagaland towns and cities fared considerably better in the zonal category ranking.
Mokokchung Municipal Council was ranked at the top in the Zonal Ranking (Cities 25 -50 K), North-East Zone category.
Chümuokedima Town Council, Tuensang Town Council, Wokha Town Council and Mon Town Council were also in the top 20 list.
In the Zonal ranking of cities and towns with population up to 25k, eight towns from Nagaland also figured in the top 100 from North East.
Dimapur, Kohima among ‘dirtiest’ cities in India
While cities in the country were being conferred awards for cleanliness, Dimapur and Kohima have featured in the lowest tier of the rankings.
According to data available on the Swachh Survekshan 2020 report, in the national ranking of cities with 1-10 lakh population, out of 382 cities, Kohima ranked 325 while Dimapur ranked 375.
Interestingly, NE cities were ranked in between 319 to 377 in this category. (See table)
While top ranked Ambikapur (Chhatishgarh) scored 5428.31, Kohima scored 1591.9 and Dimapur scored 1075.77.
Lowest ranked Gaya (382) scored 737.74 in this category.
