After securing fourth rank in the previous Swachh Survekshan (SS) survey, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is hoping that the city is ranked among the top three in the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2023-24, the results of which will be announced on January 11 in New Delhi.
After being invited by the Union Ministry of Urban Development, a team of GVMC officials including Mayor G. Hari Venkata Kumari, GVMC Commissioner C.M. Saikanth Varma and other staff left for the national capital to attend the event.
Visakhapatnam was ranked as the fourth cleanest city in the country in the 10-lakh population category in the SS rankings in the year 2022-23. It had scored the ninth rank in the year 2021-22. So, far, the city’s best ranking was third during the year 2016-17, and its lowest ranking was 23 in the year 2019-20.
According to a senior officer of the GVMC, the city has secured most marks in the ‘Citizen Feedback’ category. With innovative programmes and the drive taken up against single-use plastic, coupled with beach clean-up activities, Swachh Bharat programmes during the last two years are expected to give a boost to the rankings, he said.
“A series of campaigns were conducted against plastic pollution in the last two years. Visakhapatnam hosted one of the biggest beach clean-up campaigns in August 2022, in which around 76 tonnes of plastic was collected. The city has exclusive Reduce, Recycle and Reuse (RRR) centres located in various wards, and is one of the few corporations to have enforcement teams working on the plastic ban. A number of significant activities may ensure a top-three rank for the city,” said another officer.