Karnataka to rate its cities

The state government will soon start rating its 279 urban local bodies using the classifications and parameters employed by the Union government.

B S Shekrappa, Director of Municipal Administration, explained the project to DH on the sidelines of the Swachh Suvrekshan 2019, a workshop organised for officials and representatives of urban local bodies in the state. “It was a matter of pride for Karnataka when Mysuru came first in Clean India rankings. It has now slipped to 8th position. Ratings can really act as a booster for urban local bodies to take up initiatives and implement them creatively. We will adopt the parameters set by the Union government and give awards to corporations and councils to improve the situation,” he said.

Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Development Department, Anjum Parvez, said that ranking at the state-level will further help in spreading awareness and with that increased people’s participation. “Garbage segregation, processing and composting are simple processes that have been made complicated due to the lack of people’s participation,” he said.

Stating that handling of faecal waste has become a major challenge, Parvez said cities with less than 50,000 homes can be handled better without the necessity of underground drainage (UGD) system. “We have found that implementing UGD for small cities is too costly. Instead, lifting of faecal waste from pits through suction pumps and processing it at a plant has been found to be an effective solution,” he said. Parvez noted that some of the cities in Karnataka still lack basic necessities. “Many cities in north Karnataka and some in the south like Kolar and Chikkaballapur have the problem of water scarcity. However, that has not stopped them from giving prominence to road infrastructure and electricity. They need to realise that solid waste management is no less important than any of these issues,” he said.