After being declared an Open Defecation Free city, Hyderabad has now added one more feather to its cap. The city of pearls was ranked the best capital in the country for ‘best solid waste management’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in its Swachh Survekshan Awards 2018.
The awards were announced on Wednesday.
Besides the city winning in the best capital category, under the south zonal awards three cities from Telangana – Siddipet, Bod Uppal and Peerzadiguda also found a mention. While Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao’s constituency Siddipet was declared the cleanest city in the south zone, Bod Uppal was declared the best city in citizens’ feedback and Peerzadiguda was declared the best city in innovation and best practices.
Elated by the wins, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban development KT Rama Rao congratulated the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) team and the Municipal Commissioners of the three zones.
Congratulations to @cdmatelangana Municipal Commissioners & their teams of Siddipet, Boduppal & Peerzadiguda https://t.co/DfBHgSuM1b
— KTR (@KTRTRS) May 17, 2018
Congrats to team @GHMCOnline https://t.co/imOp8nlZKr
— KTR (@KTRTRS) May 17, 2018
While many congratulated the minister, a few netizens disagreed with the awards and posted pictures of garbage and poor solid management by the authorities, telling the minister that he doesn’t know the ground reality.
One Twitter user wrote, “Sir you don’t know the situation of Bod Uppal, we don’t have basic facilities like road, drainage and water supply.”
Sir boduppal lo colonies paristiti ento meeku telidu. We don't have a basic n proper roads, drainage and water supply. At least in our colony
— kiran kumar (@shiningkiran) May 17, 2018
Expressing similar views, another user tweeted, “But still there is no facility of drinking water and street light in our area, we have to fetch water from another place.”
@KTRTRS but still there is no facility of drinking water and street light in our area , we have to fetch water from another place
— shivesh (@shivesh__jha) May 17, 2018
Sir slum areas lo idi paristhiti...Indira Nehru nagar 141 division ... pic.twitter.com/DxQa2kvF42
— Kummari Raju (@KummariRaju10) May 17, 2018
Among the other winners of the Swachh Survekshan awards, Indore in Madhya Pradesh was declared the cleanest city, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh. Vijayawada from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh was declared the cleanest city under the category of city with more than 10 lakh population.
Mangalore from Karnataka, Tirupati from Andhra Pradesh and Navi Mumbai from Maharashtra were also declared best cities in solid waste management.
In the ‘best performing state’ category, Jharkhand was ranked first, followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.