Vizag ranked 9th cleanest city in Swachh Survekshan-2020

Visakhapatnam: The Steel City of Visakhapatnam, which is all set to become the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh, bettered its position when compared to the previous year with regard to Swachh Survekshan-2020 rankings.

The announcement made by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Thursday brought cheer to citizens.

Securing 4918.44 marks in the survey, Visakhapatnam stood second in the state among the top 10 ranks, next to Vijayawada that earned the fourth rank in the survey.

On a scale of 1,500-mark each, Visakhapatnam scored 1,188.88 in documentation, 1,100 in certification, 1,468.85 in direct observation and 1,160.71 in citizen feedback. "There is an apparent improvement in parameters such as direct observation, Garbage-Free Cities ratings, segregation and processing of waste and citizens' feedback through voting which eventually made us standout in top 10 rankings," reasons G Srijana, Municipal Commissioner.

However, in 2019, the city lost major points in documentation and Swachhta App download which eventually made the city slip in Swachhta rank, scoring 23rd rank. Vowing to take it to one of the top three rankings next year, the GMVC has already started readying its framework to achieve the goal in 2021.

"The top 10 rank has set a new standard for us. Next, we would like to be in the top 3 rankings. The contribution of the sanitation staff is commendable as they extended unconditional support in keeping the city clean and helped us score well in the survey," says V. Sanyasi Rao, Additional Commissioner, GVMC.

The city found place in the top 10 ranks by scoring the 9th rank in 2020, while it fared badly last year by obtaining the 23rd place, scoring 3744.09 points.

Meanwhile, Indore retained its top position in the survey as the cleanest city for the fourth consecutive year. While Surat and Navi Mumbai were ranked second and third respectively, Vijayawada was ranked fourth, scoring 5270.32 marks.