Bhubaneswar, Jan. 10: A crucial quality test for the Swachh Bharat Mission is all set to begin here, but the municipal corporation is yet meet the parameters.

Quality Council of India, which has been engaged to study the progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission and rank 75 selected cities, including Bhubaneswar, based on cleanliness measures, is set to visit the city this week.

The national-level survey, Swachh Sarvekshan, which began on January 4 will continue till January 20. 

The ranking results will be uploaded on MyGov.in website by January 25. 

The assessors will visit the city and judge it on various parameters, such as open defecation free town, integrated solid waste management, awareness activities, sweeping, door-to-door collection and transportation of waste, processing and disposal of solid waste and provision for public toilets.

However, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is yet to set its scores right on many of the QCI parameters. 

One of the major problems in the city is lack of an organised waste disposal facility. 

In a recent survey conducted by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board, it was revealed that the corporation’s proposed common waste processing and disposal facility at Bhuasuni was yet to be ready. 

“At present, we have a waste disposal facility near Sainik School and a landfill site at Bhuasuni. An action plan has already been drawn upto improve the existing waste collection, transportation and disposal facility. Waste collection is being done in a decentralised manner. We are set to change all this. We are working to improve the existing facilities,” said a senior BMC official. 

In November last year, the municipal corporation had roped in some voluntary organisations to make the city free from open defecation. However, the practice continues in various parts of the city, including the slums at Unit-VI and the open areas in Khandagiri.

“It has become difficult for us to even pass by the streets at Unit-VI in the mornings as the slum dwellers defecate on the streets. The situation is particularly bad in the area behind Capital Hospital,” said Suresh Dandapani, the caretaker of the Indian Medical Association which is located here.

Urban management experts feel that to ensure that Bhubaneswar gets a good rank in the cleanliness survey, civic and urban development officials need to pull up their socks at the earliest. 

The QCI assessors will visit various wards within the limits of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. They will also assess the cleanliness in public toilets, bus stands, railway stations and religious places. 

The officials will geo-tag the photographs of the locations and uploaded those on the website of Swachh Bharat Mission.

 Once complete, the survey data will be compared to that of the pre-survey conducted last October 2014. 
Bhubaneswar had then got a shameful rank of 331 out of the 476 participant cities across the country.