Ghaziabad jumps to 11th spot from 38, but poor segregation at source a worry
Interestingly, the city scored 100% under the cleanliness of residential and market areas categories, when current ground realities in different parts of the city paint quite a different picture, with sludge from drains and garbage lying in huge dumps in places like Indirapuram, Navyug Market, Kala Patthar, as well as Vaishali.
"On four parameters—remediation of dumpsites, cleanliness of residential areas, market areas, and water bodies—GMC areas scored 100%," said municipal health officer Mithilesh Kumar.
"It also performed well on door-to-door waste collection (98%), cleanliness of public toilets (97%), and waste processing (91%), but struggled with source segregation, scoring only 57% in this category."
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The percentages reflect how a city has scored on multiple cleanliness and sanitation parameters of the survey under each category.
Despite several awareness campaigns, like registration of domestic helpers and training workshops aimed at promoting segregation at source, the impact has been limited.
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"Domestic workers and hotel staffers were identified as key stakeholders for segregation of waste at source, but the desired behavioural shift hasn't happened yet," Kumar said.
GMC collects over 1,400 metric tons of waste daily, with each household producing an average of 350-400 gm waste, both dry and wet. To manage doorstep waste collection, the corporation has 313 CNG-powered vehicles with a capacity of 2.2 cubic metres each.
It also has a mobile app to alert residents before garbage collection. But these tech-based interventions have yet to resolve the segregation issue.
Still, the city's broader sanitation strategy appears to be paying off. "GMC has been certified as a garbage-free city, which is a big achievement," said mayor Sunita Dayal.
Municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik said that scientific disposal of around 15 lakh tons of legacy waste across sites in Morta, Bhikkanpur, Indirapuram and Pratap Vihar freed nearly 20 hectares of land, which were now being used for plantation drives.
GME also cleared 455 unauthorised garbage sites, he said.
Commissioning four new waste processing units — in Akbarpur Behrampur, Hindon Vihar, Sahibabad, and Rajendra Nagar — each capable of handling 150–200 tons per day, also helped the GMC improve its ranking.
The establishment of the Material Recovery Centres in Sihani and Ret Mandi also contributed to better waste sorting and processing.
Residents, however, claim that the survey rankings had nothing to do with ground realities.
"I can name at least 10 marketplaces in the city where garbage is scattered right now. GMC can pat its own back for scoring 100% marks for cleanliness of market areas in the Swachh survey, but for us, the ranking seems more of a political stunt. How does one explain tons of sludge on Kala Patthar Road near Indirapuram? Mind you, this is one of the city's most posh townships," VK Bhatnagar, a resident of Gaur Green City, told TOI.
For Ratnakar Pathak of Shastri Nagar, the rankings were just another kind of "number jugglery".
"It casts doubt over the mechanism used for the whole exercise. I have been living in Ghaziabad since 2002. While there is no denying that the overall situation has improved over the last 2 decades, I still find it hard to convince myself that of 4,000 cities in the country, Ghaziabad has been ranked 11th in cleanliness," Pathak said.
GMC, meanwhile, tried to deflect the criticism by pointing out that the Swachh survey for FY 2024-25 was completed in March.
"Sewage sludge on parts of the city accumulated over the last 20 days, when the survey is conducted for a specific period. Independent surveyors conduct on-spot surveys, and the GMC has no say in that," said a GMC official.
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