PANAJI: The latest edition of the Swachh Survekshan survey saw Panaji’s free fall through the rankings continue, with the capital failing to make the cut in the country’s top 100 cities. Panaji’s 337th spot is a huge downgrade from its 2017 rank, 90, and its 2018 position, 155.The 2019 nationwide survey saw Goa take the 18th spot. All of the state’s 14 urban local bodies (ULBs) participated in the survey, but all were relegated to close to 1,000 among the 4,203 locations covered. Panaji’s 337th rank was mainly due to the waste segregation and door-to-door garbage collection mechanism.The 2019 survey spanned an entire year and covered 4,237 urban local bodies and cantonment boards, barring the state of West Bengal, which opted not to participate. According to the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs report for Swachh Survekshan 2019, 260 citizens from the state capital submitted their feedback. Based on citizen feedback, direct observation, and service levels, Panaji scored 1,593 marks out of 5,000.Interestingly, in 2018, Panaji won the award for being India’s best state capital in ‘Innovation & Best Practices’. In Swachh Survekshan 2018, the Corporation of the city of Panaji (CCP) obtained 2,281 marks out of a total of 4,000.This year, Panaji scored just 158 points out of 1,250 points for service-level progress, as opposed to the 319 out of 1,400 it scored in 2018. The Union ministry had noted that Panaji was improving the situation in solid waste management, sanitation, information, education and communication messaging, capacity building and behavior change measures.The entire state as a whole was ranked 18 with a weighted average score of 77.

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