IMPHAL, July 14 - The capital cities of three North Eastern States � Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura are listed among the ten cleanest cities of the country in a survey conducted by New Delhi-based research and advocacy organisation � Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The top three cleanest cities of the country as per the CSE survey are Alappuzha in Kerela, Panaji in Goa and Mysuru in Karnataka. These three Indian cities which have �municipal waste management systems that actually work� unlike others, is followed by Bobbili, a small town in Andhra Pradesh in the fourth place.
Mizoram�s capital Aizawl was placed in the fifth rank and was followed by Pune and Surat, both in Maharashtra and Suryapet town of Telengana. Gangtok in Sikkim and Agartala in Tripura occupied the 9th and 10th ranks. Shimla, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Delhi are also among the cities that ranked at the bottom of the survey.
It may be mentioned that eight NE towns including five State capitals were selected by Union Government for the implementation of the ambitious Smart City plan.
Observing that waste management can�t happen without waste segregation, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said, �Even Aizawl look clean but it requires proper waste management systems. The best option is what we have found in Alappuzha where municipalities have withdrawn from the waste business. People segregate and compost; informal recyclers collect and sell. This is perhaps the most exciting model for future waste business in the country.�
The first four rank holder cities used to collect, segregate and process the waste while the 5th to 8th ranking cities (only collects and partially segregate but no treatment facilities), 9th to 14th only collects but no segregation and processing.
Municipal Commissioners and people of Alappuzha, Panaji and Mysuru were even awarded by Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu recently during the launch of CSE�s book �Not in My Backyard: Solid Waste Management in Indian Cities� in Delhi as �clean cities for their best practices in solid waste management like zero landfills, segregation of waste at source and decentralised waste management.�
The 190-page book �attempts to understand the state of solid waste management in India, the numbers behind it, the gaps that exist and the path towards harnessing the opportunities.�
