Mumbai slips to 49th place on cleanliness index

Mumbai has slipped to 49th place in the central government's cleanliness survey, while only Navi Mumbai town from Maharashtra has made it to the top 10 list.

The Swachh Survekshan awards 2019 were conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday in New Delhi where Indore city in Madhya Pradesh was adjudged India's most cleanest city for the third year in a row, while Bhopal bagged the cleanest capital award.

The awards are given by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

According to the survey report, Mumbai, which was ranked 18th in 2018, dropped to 49th place this year.

Even the neighbouring Thane city slipped to 57th place from 40th position last year.

But, Navi Mumbai scored better and rose to 7th position from last year's 9th place. The Mira-Bhayandar town also jumped to 27th place from 47th and Vasai-Virar stood at 36th position as compared to 61st place in 2018.

While the New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the 'Cleanest Small City' award, Uttarakhand's Gauchar was adjudged the 'Best Ganga Town'.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations's (BMC) nodal officer for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Kiran Dighavkar, attributed the megacity's low ranking to stringent parameters and lack of participation by residents in voting for the competition.

"We could not get three-star ranking due to several reasons. We also lost marks in the citizens' feedback category as compared to last year," Dighavkar said.

However, a Mumbai resident criticised the BMC for the city's poor show on the cleanliness index.

Renu Kapoor, member of a civil society group in Colaba area of south Mumbai, said, "The city is the country's financial capital and in that context, BMC's performance in the field of sanitation is deplorable."