Chennai corporation: Why 61st rank on clean list

On August 8, the ministry of urban development (MoUD) released a Swachh Bharat rank list of 476 cities after judging them broadly on two key indicators - open defecation and solid waste management. While Mysore topped the list, Tiruchy corporation came in at second and, along with Madurai, were the only two cities in Tamil Nadu to figure in the top 50.

Chennai corporation officials told DC that they could scarcely believe the rank list. “We want to know how they arrived at this conclusion. They have ranked Bengaluru in at seven. Is Chennai worse than Bengaluru?

Are wastes lying in mounds in every street in Chennai?,” asked a senior official. Environmentalist Arun Krishnamurthy finds relevance with the stance of the corporation.

“Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are in the same urban conglomerate circle. If we are comparing Bengaluru with Chennai, then I refuse to believe that Chennai is dirtier because Bengaluru doesn’t have a harbour. Just look at the trade that happens around Chennai Central here and compare it with Bengaluru. But the rank list is also a reality check for Chennai,” he said.

Officials are also confused as to why the agency that the ministry had employed to conduct the study did not approach the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration (CMA) to source data. The director of CMA is the state mission director for SBM. “CMA told us they have no idea how and when the survey was conducted,” an official said.

A senior government official told DC that many municipal corporations across the state had similarly reported that they had no knowledge of a survey being undertaken by a Central Government agency in their cities.