Cleanliness report: Hat-trick of awards, blots remain

Mokokchung, Chümoukedima and Pfutsero top three categories in NE; Dimapur and Kohima among dirtiest in the country

EM Bureau
Dimapur, Aug. 20 (EMN): Following months, if not years, of vigorous campaigning, the report card for Nagaland’s oft-publicised cleanliness drives delivered a mixed reading on Thursday — there were plenty of causes for celebration but they came tempered with rooms for improvement.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced the results of ‘Swachh Survekshan 2020 (Cleanliness Survey 2020)’, in which Nagaland was ranked ninth among 15 states with less than 100 urban local bodies (ULB).

Under this particular category, Jharkhand was ranked first while Kerala was at the bottom. Among Northeast (NE) states, including Sikkim, Nagaland was placed third.

Three ULB in the state — Mokokchung, Chümoukedima and Pfutsero — topped their respective categories in the NE region.

Among cities in the NE region with whose population range from 25,000 to 50,000, Mokokchung town was declared the ‘cleanest city in Northeast India’.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the deputy commissioner of Mokokchung, Limawabang Jamir, said: “Hats off to the ADC and MMC (Mokokchung municipal council) administrator and its officials, MMC sanitation workers and citizens for coming forward to keep our town clean and hygienic.

“If we drop down in the rankings next year, it would leave a bad impression. Therefore, I request each and every citizen of Mokokchung that even in 2021 we must do better than 2020.”

Spearheaded by MMC—and supported by like-minded groups like Kapur, YWCA, The Clean Mokokchung Campaign and all ward union under the project ‘My waste My responsible Mokokchung’—a mass awareness campaign on waste management was initiated in all the 18 wards under Mokokchung municipality.

Chümoukedima town was announced as the best ‘self-sustainable city’ in NE region.

The administrator of Chümoukedima, Thejavizo Nakhro, said: “We have come a long way and it is the combined efforts of the office as well as the public.

Pfutsero town was awarded the ‘best city in innovation and best practices’ in NE. While speaking to this newspaper, Mesulo Khalo, the convenor of ward chairman union, Pfutsero, expressed happiness and thanked the citizens for their cooperation and the administration for its guidance.

Tale of two cities

However, Nagaland’s two major urban centres — Kohima and Dimapur —were among the dirtiest in the list of ‘cities with population ranging between one to 10 lakh’.

Out of the 382 cities, Dimapur was ranked 375 while Kohima was placed at 325.

The administrator of Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC), Albert Ezung lamented that although the DMC has been vigorously working towards a clean Dimapur, ‘there is always a shortfall, especially in the market places’.

In 2017, the DMC had initiated ‘cleanest colony award’, with cash award to the winner at the end of the year; and once in three months, colonies adjudged to be ‘doing well’ were awarded INR 10,000.

Meanwhile, the DIPR reported that Indore, in Madhya Pradesh, was announced as India’s cleanest city for the fourth year in a row.

Swachh Survekshan 2020—a cleanliness survey covering 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 92 Ganga towns based on their cleanliness quotient—was completed in 28 days, wherein a total of 129 top performing cities and states were awarded by the minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.

The advisor Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Dr. Neikiesalie Kire, who attended the virtual programme, congratulated the three winning towns of Nagaland, it stated.

According to Kire, the three ULB out of 39 in the state, were selected for the award within a short span of time.

“The advisor pointed out that the achievement was possible due to the active participation of the citizens and congratulated them for their efforts. He also expressed hope that there would be better participation from other ULBs of the state as well in the upcoming Swachh Survekshan 2021,” it added.