Bhubaneswar, Jan. 1: The civic body today took a pledge to lift the city to new heights with major focus on the smart city initiative, cleanliness and an end to the stray animal menace.

Amid a flurry of New Year wishes from various quarters, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena told officials to dedicate their time for an overall development of the city, especially at a time when it was facing the smart city challenge and hoping to get a berth among the top 20 smart cities of the country.

Moreover, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation aims to make its administration more efficient by achieving co-ordination among its three zonal offices. The officials will also focus on better revenue collection, controlling stray animals and putting an end to open defecation.

"The citizens should take a pledge on this day to make the year a challenging one and act accordingly, so that Bhubaneswar would be known as one of the best cities in India," said Jena.

Municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar also seconded the mayor's views and said the new year should bring with it a promise for a better administration of the city through the zonal offices.

"The tax collection should be more than 40 to 50 per cent compared to that of the last fiscal. We must do it, so that more funds will be available for the city's development," said Kumar.

Officials will focus on combating the stray animal menace. Kumar further said the issue of stray animals was sending a wrong message about the city, which had emerged as a popular educational hub in the country.

In another development, the corporation also launched an online ranking survey under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on the directives of the ministry of urban development.

The survey will begin on January 4 and conclude on January 20.

Bhubaneswar is one of the 75 cities which will be taking part in the national-level survey. The ranking of cities will be placed along with detailed report with survey, analysis and findings on the official portal of the abhiyan.

In an official letter, joint secretary and mission director Praveen Prakash has directed all the urban local bodies to do the needful for the survey, which will be based on parameters such as strategy for making localities free from the practice of open defecation and the integrated solid waste management.

The urban local bodies have also been asked to concentrate on creating awareness among masses on these issues.

According to the directives, the components of the survey will carry marks ranging from 5 per cent to 40 per cent on a 100 per cent scale - so that all the cities would be ranked according to their nationwide performances.