Bhubaneswar: The civic body is ready to make amends. Having fared poorly in the third edition of the Swachh Survekshan survey this year, it is gearing up for another go at it with hopes of securing a better rank.

The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs has launched the fourth edition of the national-level cleanliness survey from New Delhi.

The ministry has communicated the changes to the guidelines to all civic bodies and asked them to prepare accordingly. The survey puts focus on sustainability and large-scale citizen participation with stress on progress towards garbage free and open-defecation free cities.

"We have received the revised guidelines. We will leave no stone unturned to fare well this time. We will shortly convene a meeting with our officials and come up with inclusive plans to get a good rank. Getting citizens to take part will be our main target," said a senior civic official.

Swachh Survekshan - 2019 will be conducted across 4,000 Indian cities and towns between January 4 and January 31. Data will be collected from three areas - service level progress, direct observation and citizens' feedback.

The ministry has also added certifications for garbage free and open-defecation free status this time. The certification will be done by a third party appointed by the ministry. Large-scale citizen participation will remain the distinctive features of the survey.

The ministry will also launch a separate portal - Swachh Manch - to ease citizens' input. The efforts on getting more input from citizens, however, will have to be ensured by civic bodies, which will take steps to popularise the portal.

Sources said the civic body will have to work hard since low citizens' participation saw its rank plummet last time. The city was ranked 245th in the survey this year, having secured 94th place among 500 cities in 2017 and 24th among 73 cities the previous year.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they would shortly declare 26 wards free from open defecation and the others by December. "We will do our best and also urge people to take part to help us get a good rank," said Jena.