Table of Contents
CURRENT AFFAIR
- The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) has released the results of the Swachh Survekshan League 2020.
- Swachh Survekshan 2020 is the 5th edition of the annual urban cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry.
- Around 4,372 cities participated in the league.
- It is a cleanliness survey that helps in competitive federalism.
WHAT TO STUDY?
- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources, issues relating to poverty and hunger
- For Prelims: Key findings, performance of various states.
- For Mains: Concerns and challenges highlighted, ways to address them.
WHAT IS SWACHH SURVEKSHAN?
- The Swachh Survekshan is the world’s largest cleanliness survey which covers more than 4370 Indian cities.
- It was rolled out 4 years ago as the answer to a problem that municipal law failed to solve.
- It is a completely digitized and paperless
OBJECTIVE
- The annual cleanliness survey aims to encourage large scale participation of citizens in cleanliness drives.
- It aims to ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free and open defecation free cities.
- It aims to create awareness among all sections of the society regarding the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in.
WHAT DID THE MOHUA DO?
- Ahead of the launch of Swachh Survekshan 2020, the Union MOHUA is trying to stir up competition among
- It stirs up by pre-ranking them for their performance during 2019 and assigning points to be added this year.
INDICATORS
- The focus of the survey was on waste water treatment, faecal sludge The survey also focused on implementation of ODF+, water plus and ODF+
TARGETS
- 100% processing and safe disposal of
- Complete faecal sludge and septage management and
- Wastewater treatment and reuse.
- The Ministry has also sanctioned funds under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to help States set up facilities necessary to manage waste.
PROBLEMS NOT ADDRESSED
- INFRASTRUCTURE
- WASTE MANAGEMENT
- DRINKING WATER
- SANITATION
FINDINGS
- Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) have topped the cleanliness charts for two consecutive quarters among cities with over 10 lakh population and with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population
- Kolkata ranked at the bottom of the ranking of 49 major cities across both quarters as West Bengal did not participate in the nationwide exercise.
- Among cantonment boards, Tamil Nadu’s St.Thomas Mount Cantt was ranked 1st in quarter 1 whereas Delhi Cantt ranked first in the 2nd quarter.
- Secunderabad Cantonment Board in Hyderabad is the worst performer among other cantonment
WAY AHEAD
- States should ask for extended funding under such schemes to create the infrastructure for a future-focused clean-
- Simultaneously, they should institute measures to reduce waste.
- Policy formulation can make the Centre’s goal of eliminating single-use plastic by 2022 seem more realistic.