Bhubaneswar, Aug. 6: The Centre today launched the second phase of Swachh Survekshan, a national-level sanitation survey, in Delhi.

The survey will pit 500 Indian cities, including Bhubaneswar, to prove its cleanliness. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation officials attended a workshop, which was held in Delhi to announce the launch, through videoconference and got oriented about various challenges the state capital would face in the survey.

In the first face of the survey in January, Bhubaneswar had competed with 73 cities, finishing in 24th place. However, it was adjudged as the best mover in the east zone. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they were going to leave no stone unturned this time to reach the top in terms of cleanliness.

"We have improved in the cleanliness parameter. We are in the process of putting up adequate number of dustbins, toilets and other facilities to ensure cleanliness. We finished 24th in the previous survey. The competition is bigger this time, and we will try our best to finish at the top," Jena said.

As part of the survey, urban development ministry officials will visit Bhubaneswar in October and judge it on the basis of planned and unplanned colonies, cleanliness in the commercial and market areas and also take citizen feedback. The survey's aim is to encourage large-scale citizen participation and create mass awareness about a clean and green city.

Damana resident Karunakar Bariha said the city should maintain its cleanliness properly.

"The administration have had tough time tackling the Bhuasuni dumping yard issue. However, they managed to resolve the problem, and now, garbage is being lifted regularly. The officials should now start providing toilets and ensure that the city is open-defecation free to win this challenge," said Bariha.

According to the survey norms, data collected for ranking the cities will be segregated into three main areas - interactions with the civic officials, direct observation and citizen feedback. Citizens can also share their suggestions or experiences through social media or call a toll-free number, which will be operational shortly.

In 2014, the Centre's Swachh Bharat Mission cell had conducted one such survey, in which Bhubaneswar finished 331 among 476 competing cities. Civic officials said that compared to that survey, the city had improved in leaps and bounds to rank 24 among 73 cities in this year's survey.

Bhubaneswar will also compete with nine other cities from the state, which have been included in the national-level survey this time. These are Rourkela Industrial Township, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela City, Puri, Balasore, Baripada and Bhadrak. The results of the survey will be announced in January 2017.