CUTTACK: The results of national level Swachh Survekshan(cleanliness survey) 2018, conducted by ministry of housing and urban affairs, has come as a shocker for Cuttack city as it has secured 402 rank this year as against 204 rank in 2017.The figure has not only brought embarrassment for the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) but has also upset the citizens of the Millennium city. People have expressed their anger as sanitation in the city is in absolute shambles.“The result should be an eye-opener for the authorities. Instead of improvement, sanitation situation is turning from bad to worse in Cuttack,” said Bijay Das, a retired government official.According to the data released by the ministry, Cuttack has scored 1189.83 marks out of total 4000 marks. The parameters included segregation and processing of waste at source, sanitation, open defecation free status, financial sustainability of local bodies and adoption of innovations and best practices to ensure cleanliness in the city. The survey team gathered the data by direct observation, collection of citizen feedback and on basis of the documents and data provided by municipal body.Notably, before the survey CMC had made tall claims about its preparedness and had conducted series of meetings to ensure its better ranking this year. The civic body had conducted widespread awareness campaigns in schools and colleges about cleanliness,community and individual toilets were also constructed to deal with open defecation problem. Evens six Odia film actors were appointed as brand ambassadors to encourage people to keep the city clean and green. But it seems all its efforts have failed to yield desired results.“CMC authorities were only busy in making announcements and did not do any work in reality. The solid waste management system is in deplorable condition as heaps of garbage can be seen littered in nook and cranny of the city,” alleged Congress leader, Mohammed Moquim.CMC sources said the city scored well in direct observation and in sensitization categories but it fell short under the service level progress (solid waste management and infrastructure ) and in citizen feedback categories. “Due to some litigation, we were not able to hire agency to carry out solid waste management in the city. Even citizens’ feedback about the sanitation was very poor. Due to these factors our rank slipped,” said CMC commissioner Bikash Mohapatra.However, Mohapatra has also tried to downplay the situation.“In 2017, the survey was conducted in 500 cities while in 2018 over 4200 urban local bodies have been assessed. Bagging 402 rank among 4200 cities is not that bad,” said Mohapatra.

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