Ujjain: Ujjain, the holiest of cities in Madhya Pradesh received the tag of fourth cleanest medium city in Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey) awards declared in Delhi on Wednesday.
Indore for the third consecutive time was adjudged the cleanest of all cities across the country. The city of lord Mahakal took a leap of 13 spots from last year cleanliness rankings and claimed the fourth spot.
Ujjain was adjudged the cleanliest of city in the population density category of 3 lakh to 10 lakh. Ujjain scored 4244.47 marks out of grand total of 5,000 marks. The Union government had this made arrangements to make the survey full digitised through online marking system. In 2018 the survey comprised of total 4,000 marks.
The survey was broadly defined into 4 levels including service level, direct observation, citizen feedback and certification. This year star rating system was also introduced where the cleanliness certification included the star rating with 20 per cent weightage. This category had total 1250 marks. Other three categories comprised of 1250 marks each.
The city was evaluated on the basis of the star rating achieved by them as per the protocol released by union government. The star rating protocol is based on 12 parameters and follows a SMART framework single metric, measurable, achievable, rigorous verification mechanism and targeted towards outcomes and has been devised in a holistic manner including components such as cleanliness of drains and water bodies, plastic waste management, managing construction and demolition waste, etc, which are critical drivers for achieving garbage free cities.
It is worth noting that Ujjain scored almost double than average score of states combined that stood at 2240.6 marks. The city’s score is also higher than national average of 1846 marks. Authorities at Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) confirmed that there will be no additional grant under the awards, but it will help enhancing the city’s economically aesthetically in turn promoting the tourism.
Citizen feedback gave the boost
The urban level feedback from the citizens was a huge boost in improving the overall score. This year a total of 7862 residents participated in the feedback survey. Officials said that this is the system to improve the overall efficiency of the system and people can tell us where to improve. In Garbage Free City (GFC) rating the city was awarded three stars with an Open Defecation Free ++ status.
How the waste is managed
“There is a two-way waste management and cleanliness arrangements: Global Waste Management Company collects domestic and commercial garbage with the help of about 80 vehicles, 8 containers and 14 uploaders. An average of 200 ton garbage is collected everyday and then sent to two transfer stations located at Gaughat and MR-5. From there, Ujjain Waste Management Company carry the garbage to Gonsa where about 5 to 10 ton manure is produced everyday and sold to NFL. About 2280 sanitation workers are involved in cleanliness arrangements. 5 sewer suction machines and 4 road sweeping machines are also pressed into service. Besides health officer, two in-charge health officers, 6 zonal inspectors, 20 darogas and 54 mats monitor these arrangements regularly.”- BS Mahete, health officer
“Making Ujjain a dust bin free city was the primary target. Once it was done we were able to achieve 100 percent segregation of garbage at source and collecting it at the same place. This turned out to be a pivot in the framework. I would like to thank the Safai Karmacharis (sanitation workers) as well the staff for the achievement.” Pratibha Pal, commissioner
Celebrations at headquarters
As soon as official announcement with regard to Swachhta awards was made, UMC employees started celebrations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhavan located headquarters. They burst crackers and distributed sweets. Additional commissioner Manoj Pathak, deputy-commissioner Sunil Shah and superintending engineer Pradeep Nigam also joined the celebrations. According to PRO Raees Nizami, besides two said awards the UMC also received second prizes in best citizen-led initiative and best practices, garbage-free city at national level.
Innovative efforts paved the way
