Gurgaon: The urban local bodies (ULB) department, Haryana, is planning to identify and rank the top three wards in each of the 11 municipal corporations in the state based on sanitation and cleanliness parameters, including the management of solid and construction and demolition (C&D) waste. According to the proposed initiative, the best-performing ward in each municipal corporation will receive Rs 15 lakh, while the second- and third-ranked wards will receive Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively.The ULB department has also convened a meeting with the mayors of the municipal corporations to discuss the proposed competition and the criteria for assessment. Officials said the department will soon issue a notification laying down the modalities, including the parameters and process for evaluating and ranking the wards. The initiative has come at a time when the cities in Haryana are facing a waste crisis following over a month-long strike by sanitation workers.The proposed assessment is expected to cover several aspects of civic cleanliness, including the regularity of waste collection, segregation of garbage at source, cleanliness of public spaces and roads, and the disposal of accumulated waste. The management of C&D waste, which often gets dumped along roadsides and vacant plots, is also likely to be an important component of the evaluation. Officials said the competition could encourage municipal authorities and ward-level teams to improve day-to-day sanitation practices and maintain cleaner surroundings.In the meeting, which was chaired by ULB minister Vipul Goel, Gurgaon mayor Raj Rani Malhotra raised the issue of sanitation workers for the city. “I raised the issue that we require at least 3,000 additional sanitation workers that we would need. We have been asked to send our requirement to the ULB and assured that our requirement will be fulfilled,” said Malhotra.It was also discussed in the meeting that the municipal corporations should ensure that the ban on single-use plastic is followed throughout the cities. The civic bodies are expected to strengthen monitoring and enforcement against the use and disposal of prohibited plastic items, said councillors, who attended the meeting. The proposed ward-level competition, officials indicated, is intended to create greater accountability at the local level while encouraging residents and municipal staff to participate in maintaining sanitation standards.
