Navi Mumbai is the cleanest city in Maharashtra, 8th in India

During last year’s survey, the city had ranked 12th

Navi Mumbai has been ranked the cleanest city in Maharashtra and the eighth cleanest in India. It is the only city from Maharashtra in the top 10.

On the other hand, Mumbai, country’s financial capital, came in a distant 29th.

The rankings were based on government’s Swachh Survekshan Survey 2017, which rated the efforts of municipalities in 434 Indian cities put in keeping them clean.

This was the second time the survey was conducted since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his pet project — the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

“This is a huge success for all of us. Credit goes not only to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), but to all the residents. The NMMC cannot maintain the city and keep it clean without their cooperation,” said mayor Sudhakar Sonawane.

“All civic officials, including the civic chief and the mayor, had come together to keep the city clean. Our efforts have paid off,” he added.

Navi Mumbai had ranked 12th in the last year’s survey.

“After coming 12th last year, we decided to concentrate on building public toilets, minimising use of plastic bags, segregating dry and wet waste and improving the solid waste management system. We also paid careful attention to maintenance of gardens and public places, roads and drains,” said Ankush Chavan, additional commissioner, NMMC.

He added that the NMMC would now focus on making Navi Mumbai the cleanest city in India.

“We will have to work on the garbage dumps in the city and beautify certain areas. We will also try to involve more citizens while making decisions. Increasing the city’s green cover is our priority,” Chavan added.

“We need more public toilets at slums in Turbhe and Nerul. Garbage collection in these areas also needs improvement,” said Rajesh Puri, 37, a Turbhe resident.

Mumbai, which ranked 10th out of 73 cities in the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2016, was found to be only the 29th cleanest city of the 434 surveyed this year.

The cities were evaluated on five parameters — waste collection, solid waste management, construction of toilets, sanitation strategies and behaviour change communication.

The Brihanmumbai Municiapl Corporation (BMC) blamed citizens for the fall in Mumbai’s rank.

The rankings are based on the data provided by municipal corporations, independent assessors and feedback from people. In all, 3.7 million citizens participated in the exercise. But only 5,000 Mumbaiites took the survey.

“In addition to improving cleanliness, we will also focus on citizens’ involvement and would like more Mumbaiites to give their feedback for better performance next year. There was apathy among citizens for voting. Mumbai