Hindustan Times (Gurugram)

SDMC draws up action plan to better Swachh ranking in 2018

- Vibha.sharma@hindustant­imes.com

But this time we will work hard to make to the top 25 cities/municipal bodies . We have enough funds and supportive residents so achieving the results won’t be a difficult task SDMC OFFICIAL

NEW DELHI : After being rated poorly in tje Swachh Bharat rankings this year, the South Delhi Municipal Corporatio­n has asked its staff to work hard to make it among the top 25 cities and municipali­ties in the Swachh Survekshan 2018.

In a capacity building workshop organised for the sanitation and engineerin­g department­s on Tuesday, SDMC commission­er Puneet Goel stressed on certain core areas. He spoke on the need to segregate garbage at source, maintain cleanlines­s in and around public toilets, resolution of complaints received on the Swacchta App created by the Union ministry of urban developmen­t), desilting of drains and removal of debris regularly.

The department­s have been given three months to ensure implementa­tion of these steps in all four zones of SDMC. To get time-bound results, the staff has been asked to work in co-ordination with RWAs and market associatio­ns for source segregatio­n.

Besides, a target of 15 days has been set to start composting in each ward. “There is need to decentrali­se the composting process involving bulk generators such as five star hotels and restaurant­s to make the process easier,” said the commission­er.

The SDMC ranked 202 out of 434 cities judged under the Swachh Survekshan 2017.

“We could not achieve better rankings as we didn’t project our activities properly. But this time we will work hard to make to the top 25 cities/municipal bodies . We have enough funds and supportive residents so achieving the results won’t be a difficult task ,” said a senior official from the department of environmen­t management services.

To cover each and every lane for better sanitation, the department has been asked to design new rickshaws that can enter narrow lanes. Also, all vehicles transporti­ng garbage should be GPS-enabled. “We have to complete all this by September so that we could self-evaluate our status and accelerate our efforts to remove the shortcomin­gs,” said an official.

The commission­er stressed making all the 104 wards in its jurisdicti­on ‘open-defecation free’.

“Though Delhi is facing extreme migration which is beyond our control but we have to provide toilets. We have to construct sufficient number of toilets and ensure their maintenanc­e,” said Goel.

The department concerned has been asked to consult the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvemen­t Board (DUSIB) to figure out their difficulti­es in providing toilets in slums.

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