Visakhapatnam slips to one-star GFC rating

Visakhapatnam: The smart city of Visakhapatnam, which is all set to become the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh, has failed to shine in the star-rating race with regard to keeping the city garbage-free.

In the results announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the city lags behind Tirupati and Vijayawada and slipped to the one-star rating from the two-star rating the city scored last year. However, the two cities – Tirupati and Vijayawada - were given three-star rating in GFC (garbage-free cities).

This year, Navi Mumbai, Surat, Mysore, Indore, Rajkot and Ambikapur have got 5-star rating in GFC. While 65 cities have been accorded three-star rating, 70 cities have scored one-star rating. MoHUA launched the star rating mechanism for cities to achieve garbage-free status and maintain higher level of cleanliness.

Though Vizag registered good score in other desirable parameters such as onsite wet waste processing, construction and demolition (C&D) waste – use of material and dumpsite remediation, scoring 50, 20 and 50 points respectively, it failed in C&D waste – storage, segregation, processing and recycling parameter. Elaborating on it further, GVMC Commissioner G Srijana says, "The fall in the ratings is largely because of the processing units. The unfinished waste to energy plant construction and demolition waste processing are the major drawbacks."

Expressing disappointment over the single-star rating, GVMC Additional Commissioner Viswanadha Sanyasi Rao says, "We expected a 5-star rating this year. But did not expect one star for the kind of efforts we have made in every parameter and despite having 21 collection centres in GVMC limits and a C&D processing centre at Kapuluppada." Though a six-member team from the Kantar Agency visited the city as a part of the third-party verification before recommending to MoHUA, some of the GVMC officials felt that the assessment level could have been more intense as the city deserves much better ranking as far as GFC is concerned.

With the current year's GFC rating slipping to one star, the major concern now is its subsequent impact on Swachh Survekshan Survey.