Bathinda trumps Punjab cities in Swachh Survey, ranks 2nd

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 4

Bathinda city has got second rank in the state and is placed 131 among 434 cities in the Swachh Survey 2017, conducted by the Union Ministry of Urban Development.

The results were announced by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu at a function held in New Delhi.

In the state, only SAS Nagar is ahead of Bathinda, which has got 121st rank while Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala are behind Bathinda in the survey.

Bathinda has got this rank due to the solid waste management plant.

The city lost out on the issue of biometric attendance, otherwise it could have been above SAS Nagar in the survey.

The newly constructed public toilets have also brought more points to Bathinda.

Members of the Quality Council of India had conducted the survey in January.

In the first phase, after seeing data of various measures taken by the MCB, the city was given score out of total 900.

In the second phase, the total score was 500. Five per cent was kept for solid waste management, five per cent for awareness and behaviour change, 20 per cent for garbage processing, 15 per cent for public-community toilets, 15 per cent for toilet in every house and 40 per cent for door-to-door garbage collection, sweeping and transportation.

MC commissioner Anil Kumar Garg said, “We wanted to be in the first 100 but still it is good as we are ahead of all other major cities in the state. We will pull our socks up and work more effectively.”

Chief sanitary inspector Sandeep Kataria said, “It is great that we have got 131st rank. We worked really hard. Various projects were initiated for the betterment of the city.”

The solid waste management plant, which all political parties claim to shifting to some other site, has rescued the city in the survey.