83% respondents feel their area has become cleaner

Field inspection of 17,500 locations has confirmed that the Swachh Bharat mission has made a positive impact on cleanliness in the urban areas, said Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu.

He said Swachh Survekshan-2017 — a national ranking on urban sanitation — brings out the impact of improved infrastructure and service delivery. The survey, conducted on a sample size of 18 lakh people, reveals that cities turned much cleaner in the last one year.

Sanitation rankings of 434 cities and towns — carried out by 421 assessors of Quality Council of India, who have physically inspected 17,500 locations — will be announced on May 4. and Naidu said citizens’ feedback were more exciting than rankings. The assessment covered 2,680 residential locations, 2,680 commercial hubs and 2,582 commercial and public toilets.

In the survey commissioned by the Urban Development Ministry early this year, over 18 lakh citizens responded to a set of six questions giving their perception of sanitation in cities and towns.

The Minister, sharing the findings of the survey, said over 83 per cent of respondents reported their areas much cleaner than last year, while 82 per cent reported improvement in sanitation infrastructure and services such as increased availability of litter bins and door-to-door collection of solid waste. Around 80 per cent respondents proclaimed better access to community and public toilets and 75 per cent residential areas in 404 cities and towns have been found substantially clean.

Respondents also noted that railway station surroundings to be entirely clean in 185 cities. On community and public toilets, 75 per cent have been found ventilated, well-lit with adequate water supply. The survey has revealed that door-to-door collection of waste is operational in 80 per cent of wards in 297 cities and towns.

Sweeping was done twice in 75 per cent of notified commercial areas in 226 cities and towns. In 166 cities and towns, vehicles transporting solid waste are being tracked using GPS and RFID-based technology.

Sanitation staff vacancy has been reduced to less than 10 per cent in 227 cities and towns and attendance is being monitored using Information and Communication Technology in 158 cities.

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