Udaipur used to be ranked high for cleanliness, but now it has dropped a lot in the cleanliness survey. Even though it is considered the fourth most beautiful city globally in other surveys, its cleanliness ranking fell by 84 positions. In the state, it is still third, but nationally, it is now at 206th place. The main reason for this decline is that Udaipur got a zero rating for waste disposal.  

Last year, Udaipur was the 122nd cleanest city in India and the fourth cleanest in its state. However, in the recent cleanliness survey by the Indian government, Indore and Surat stayed at the top with a perfect score of 100%. Udaipur scored 56% less in waste collection compared to Indore and 39% less in overall cleanliness. Udaipur faced the biggest challenges in these three areas. Indore and Surat are doing the best in proper waste disposal, collection and processing.

In our city, Udaipur, the Municipal Corporation didn't do well in the survey because there were many problems. There were big piles of garbage, issues with collecting garbage from door to door, smelly public toilets, blocked drains in different places and no separate bins for wet and dry waste. Surprisingly, the city spends Rs 2.55 crore every year on cleanliness, but these problems still exist. The Municipal Corporation has 1571 sanitation workers with 1498 of them working in the 70 wards and they use 75 trucks to collect garbage from door to door. 

When questioned about the low ranking, Mayor Govind Singh Taank attributed it to the incomplete projects related to the Smart City, stating that our cleanliness is suffering as a result. However, in contrast, the actual completion rate of Smart City projects stands at 98%. Deputy Mayor Paras Singhavi points out that the setback is specifically in the area of solid waste management, which has significantly impacted our ranking. 

In the city's 70 areas, there were supposed to be 350 garbage points, but there are only 240. The problem is so bad that garbage is left near garbage bins instead of being taken away within a day, as the rules say. Places like the R.M.V. corner on Surajpol Road, Bhupalpura Chowki, in front of the Mayor's house, Teacher's Colony, Brahmpol and Amba Pol Gate tell stories of such carelessness. 

In lots of places, people are throwing garbage in the alleys instead of using the trash points. The area under Kumbha Pulia is especially bad, where the contractor made a small garage, and now there is a big pile of garbage that stays there for days. People living there have complained many times. Also, in the lanes near Celebration Mall, there are big piles of garbage. 

Source: Dainik Bhaskar