Lutyens’ Delhi area ranks seventh in clean city list

New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council area, which houses the country’s power corridors, has been ranked at seventh position in the Union urban development ministry’s Swachchh Bharat, reckoning of 434 cities for 2016-17. Though the NDMC area’s position dropped three places from last year, the rest of Delhi failed to impress.

The capital’s pricey Lutyens’ Zone falls in the area administered by the council, which has bungalows of Union ministers and parliamentarians. Many top industrialists also stay in the area.

Parliament House, buildings of all the Union ministries, the Supreme Court, the high court and residences of the apex court and high court judges, senior bureaucrats and senior military officers are also in NDMC area.

In the national capital region except Faridabad, ranked 88, none of Delhi’s neighbours figured among the 100 cleanest cities. Gurgaon, where around 250 fortune companies are based, has been ranked 112, while Ghaziabad was way down at 351, a stark reminder that infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of urbanisation in the country.

While Delhi Cantonment ranked 172, the East, South and North municipal corporation areas are at 196, 202 and 279 places, respectively. The BJP beat anti-incumbency and recently returned to power in the east, south and north civic bodies, where garbage collection and disposal continues to be a big problem.

Buoyed by its ranking, a statement issued by the NDMC said it has been has been awarded cleanest city in the North Zone of the country under the zone-wise Swachchh Survekshan-2017.

The Survekshan was across 500 cities of the country and out of the total marks of 2,000, the NDMC was able to secure 1,707.96 marks. The marks secured under municipal documentation, direct observation and citizen engagement are 819.95, 426.88 and 461.13 respectively. The UD survey was based on the feedback of local residents.