Delhi shows marginal improvement in cleanliness, but remains at the bottom of Swachh Survekshan ranking

New Delhi: The three former municipal corporations in the national capital, which have now been unified into a single body as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), have recorded poor performance in the Swachh Survekshan ranking, despite showing marginal improvement.

Among 45 cities across India, the former North Delhi Municipal Corporation has been placed among the bottom 10 at 37th position. The erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation is at 34th while the South Corporation was placed at 28th rank.

However, the performance of all the corporations has improved marginally from last year. The NDMC has progressed by eight points from the previous year when it was placed at the 45th position. EDMC also went six points up from last year's 40th rank. The South Corporation was in the 31st slot in the last cleanliness survey. Total of 48 cities were surveyed in 2021.

According to MCD officials, the improvement in the status of cleanliness in the city is the result of multiple efforts taken by the civic body in the past few years.

"We are pleased to see the civic bodies climbing stairs, and all three have moved up in ranking this year. SDMC particularly has brought the corporation into the top 30, from its position on the edge of 30 last year. Various initiatives taken by the three corporations until they merged into one MCD, particularly by the SDMC, have paid off. And, next year, we would like to see ourselves among the top contenders," a senior MCD official said.

Civic authorities point out the cleanliness initiatives such as decentralised compost plants, special drives for ensuring and maintaining open defecation-free status, remediation of landfill sites, installation of twin dustbins to promote segregation of the waste, setting up of garbage cafes and other schemes.

The authorities hope that the ranking will go up in next year's assessment as a unified MCD takes up the issue more diligently.