The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) won the Swachhata Excellence Award, 2018, for Hyderabad’s clean and hygienic environment.
The Union Ministry of Urban Housing Affairs (MoUHA) conducted a survey in the year 2018 in approximately 434 metro cities in India to finalise the awardee of the Swachhata Excellence Award, 2018. Hyderabad was the only metro city to stand out and meet the criteria set by the MoUHA and therefore, the City bagged the award.
The criteria were being open defecation free (ODF,) the collection and transportation of solid waste and replacing tricycles with 2,500 Swachh Auto Tippers (SATs.) The other categories included the spreading of awareness among the public about solid waste management by community based organisations like women self help group (SHGs) and the capping of Jawahar Nagar Landfill site.
Purushottam Reddy, an environmentalist, said, “The City bagging the award reflects the pathetic sanitation standard in other cities. Yet, sanitation in the city needs to be improved capping of dumpyard should be done scientifically as per the solid waste management rules.”
The MoUHA institutes the Swachhata Excellence Award every year and recognises the Area Level Federations (ALF,) City Level Federations (CFL) and Urban Local Bodies working together to attain a clean environment.
