Swachh Survekshan 2020 Visakhapatnam: Areas that citizens need to give their feedback on

In a bid to earn the ‘Cleanest City’ award for Visakhapatnam this year, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner Srijana Gummala took to Twitter to share information regarding the citizen feedback of Swachh Survekshan 2020.

Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey undertaken by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to study the cleanliness and sanitation of various cities and towns in India. Every year, after a four-step procedure, the committee releases a list of the cleanest cities in India, to foster a spirit of healthy competition among municipalities of all towns and cities. This falls under the government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban) scheme and is an attempt by the central government to ensure that local officials take extra efforts towards ensuring clean spaces for their citizens.

Visakhapatnam stood 3rd in the nation in 2017 under the ‘Cleanest Cities’ category. Subsequently, the city stood at 7th in 2018 and 23rd in 2019. The city now hopes to get back on top of the charts with efforts both from the citizens and the concerned officials.

As per the Swachh Survekshan, all cities are graded in four categories:

1. Certification for free of garbage and open defecation (ODF)
2. Service level progress judged on the basis of the collection of data from online portals and submissions to the MoHUA
3. Feedback from citizens through voting
4. Swachtha App and direct observation by the teams during the field inspection

Each of the categories carries a 25% weightage in the final score. The GVMC commissioner Srijana Gummala has thereby asked citizens to register their feedback online and let their voices be heard. Vizagites can either call on the toll-free number ‘1969’ or download the Swachhata web application to register the citizen feedback in Swachh Survekshan 2020.