Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand has come on top of Himalayan states in ‘Swachh Survekshan 2021’. The state has also secured fourth rank among states with less than 100 urban local bodies. Bansidhar Bhagat, Urban Development Minister of Uttarakhand, said: “There is a lot of improvement but we aspire to work hard as there is always space for improvisation. I congratulate everyone who worked hard to achieve this feat.”
Under the category of ‘Garbage Free City Star Rating’ three urban bodies from Uttarakhand — Dehradun, Muni Ki Reti and Roorkee — made to the list for the first time with Muni ki Reti securing 11th position in the country. The results of the annual nationwide Swachh Survekshan were declared on Saturday. The results have yielded a mixed bag for the six biggest cities of Uttarakhand namely Dehradun, Roorkee, Haridwar, Haldwani, Kashipur and Rudrapur.
With its rank of 82 among 372 cities in the 1 to 10 lakh population category, Dehradun has managed to enter the much coveted ‘100 Top Cities’ category for the first time. No city in Uttarakhand had ever crossed the below-100 rank in any of the earlier Swachh Survekshan editions. Haridwar, Haldwani and Kashipur have lagged behind. Haridwar has slipped to 285 in 2021 from 244 in 2020.
Anoop Nautiyal, of Social Development for Communities, said: “In comparison to the bigger cities in Uttarakhand, several smaller towns have more robust waste management models. They are able to also generate resources from the sale of dry waste to collectors and recyclers. Muni Ki Reti is a good example for this.”
Irrespective of rankings, waste management remains a major challenge for Uttarakhand. Many also pointed out that plastic waste is rampant and is a major threat for the ecologically fragile state. “It would be apt to describe the 2021 Swachh Survekshan results as one step forward, one step backward for Uttarakhand. Thus, a lot of unfinished work remains both for authorities as well as the citizens,” said Ayush Joshi, a conservationist.
