Noida to rope in NGO to help city better its rank in Swachh survey

The Noida authority on Wednesday said it will hire an NGO to help the health department in getting the city ready for the upcoming Swachh Bharat mission’s Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey) that ranks cities on the basis of cleanliness.

The NGO will be tasked to conduct field activities for the survey as this campaign has a target to improve the health department’s measures related to sanitation work, end to open defecation, prohibition of manual scavenging, and encouraging healthy sanitation practices through awareness and training.

The authority officials said that it aims to improve the city’s ranking this year. Noida was judged the 14th cleanest city in the country in Swachh Survekshan 2023, the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), in coordination with the Quality Council of India, under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U). The results of the survey were announced on January 12, 2024.

“The selected NGO will have the responsibility of organising awareness campaigns on sanitation, ODF+/ODF++, Water Plus, effective waste management, and project monitoring. It will also help in issuing fines and penalties for violations found during the field visits,” said a Noida authority official, asking not to be named.

The authority has issued a tender to pick the NGO before the survey starts on the ground, said officials.

The NGO will carry out awareness campaigns, beautification drives and cleanliness initiatives, improving the city profile and also help in ensuring compliance of Swachh Survekshan League.

The authority has divided Noida public health department’s work into two divisions across 110 sectors and 60 villages.

The NGO will manage field operations and record the activities needed for Swachh Survekshan League compliance in these areas. The citizen outreach for participation and positive feedback on Swachh Survekshan League shall also be done.

“The NGO will raise awareness among apartment owners associations, residents’ welfare associations, commercial areas, malls, govt institutions, villages, and slums, as well as in schools, colleges, hospitals, hotels, and industries. Topics such as source segregation, onsite processing of wet waste, cleanliness, and personal hygiene will be covered,” said the official.

Also, the team will also handle social media pages and ensure regular posts on Swachh Noida.

In order to keep the city clean and green, the NGO will review existing practices of sanitation and provide all technical inputs/advisory support to Noida, be it related to procurement, document preparation, MIS report preparation, and other field support services, as required or necessary for meeting the objectives.

The consultant will create a time-bound action plan for implementing projects related to solid waste management, sanitation, and other complementary activities supporting the mission.

Also, among 342 cities with a population of 300,000 or more, Noida secured the second spot in rankings in 2023. This was a significant improvement from 2022, when the city had come in fifth in this category. The city was ranked fourth in 2021; 25th in 2020, 150th in 2019 and 324th in 2018.