Cleanest city tag lost, Tiruchy on warpath to regain its glory

TIRUCHY: Tiruchy, venerated as 3rd cleanest city in the country in 2016, has gradually lost its sheen due to various factors. The city has plunged to as low as 262nd rank in the recent Swachh Survekshan 2022 ranking as it was performing worse to worst in due course of time. But the officials are working in top gear to revive the lost glory.

Ever since the Swachh Bharat Mission commenced its Swachh Survekshan ranking, Tiruchy was enlisted for the top position until 2016 when the city was adjudged third cleanest city in India and first place in Tamil Nadu. However, it gradually declined in due course of time and ranked sixth in 2017 and then 13th in 2018 and reached the position of 102 in 2020. Since then, the city has been struggling to get a decent ranking and pathetically reached the 262nd rank in the country which raised several eyebrows.

“It was once a pride of being a Tiruchiite but now I feel hesitant due to the plunging ranking. There is a reason for this. We notice garbage accumulated at several places and irregular door-to-door collection,” said M Saravanan, a resident of Periya Milaguparai, in the heart of the city.

However, the clean city tag is obtained not only on waste management but also based on several yardsticks including infrastructure like roads and maintenance of toilets. “Despite doing well in a few parameters like sweeping roads and removing silt accumulated on the roads, ensuring cleanliness in locations like markets and residential areas, the civic body lost in the parameters like beautification drive, source segregation and upkeep of drainages,” a senior official from the civic administration said. The present result claims that poor performance in maintaining public toilets has affected the scoring.

For instance, in the first two quarters, Tiruchy could get 459 out of a total of 1,200 marks and this has affected the entire ranking structure. The official claimed that the civic administration had lost in the documentation process as it was readied in a hectic manner. Apart from poor documentation, the low number of feedbacks also affected the city’s ranking.

Sources said that the officials are planning to rectify the lapses with the support of the residents.