City ranks low on cleanliness
Mumbai may be getting a makeover, but its citizens are certainly not
impressed. An all-India survey of 18 cities, based on interviews with local
residents, shows the country’s financial nerve-centre ranks pretty low on
cleanliness in terms of its citizens’ perceptions.
Chandigarh emerges as the clear winner in the first-of-its-kind survey,
which is virtually a satisfaction index. In fact, the city surpasses all
others by far with a score of 144 against an all-India average of 100.
Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore stand second, third and fourth in the
rankings based on the AC Nielsen ORG-Marg survey.
But the big story is that aamchi Mumbai does not even get an average
grade (99). Interviews across the metropolis with people from various income
and age groups reveal that Mumbai has been unable to meet expectations on
parameters such as purity of drinking water, cleanliness in public places,
level of air pollution and condition of public toilets.
According to the findings, Chennai (118), Kolkata (108) and Bangalore
(108) have fared better than Mumbai on most counts. Even emerging urban
centres like Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar and Thiruvananthapuram have scored
higher. Mumbai can draw consolation from the fact that its score is in the
nineties, in the same league as Delhi and Hyderabad, but then so are Jaipur,
Ranchi and Bhopal, which are far less professionally managed.
Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), the company which commissioned the survey,
said the findings vindicate its efforts to promote health and hygiene. Punit
Misra, marketing manager, HLL, said, “This report serves as an urgent
wake-up call for all citizens on the need for playing our part in creating
cleaner and healthier cities.”