Smart Star-Rating for Garbage Free Cities

•  Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the ‘Protocol for Star Rating of Garbage-Free Cities’ in Goa.

What is star rating initiative?

• The star-rating initiative has been developed by the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban, through this all the Indian cities will get a rating on a 7-star rating system based on multiple cleanliness indicators for solid waste management and that these are –
• Is door to door garbage collection system in place in all parts of the area
• If people of the area segregate waste at source
• How often sweeping is done
• How effectively waste is managed through scientific processing
• Status of scientific landfills
• The way plastic waste is being managed
• Construction and demolition management
• Dump remediation
• Citizen grievance redressal system

The Rating Criteria

• From 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 – the cities can be rated anything between these numbers and on their compliance with the protocol conditions specified for each of the rating.
• If the city is aiming for a 3-star rating or above, then it is a mandate that the city should be Open Defecation Free (ODF).

How Will The Rating System Work?

• The cities may self-declare themselves as 1-star, 2-star or 4-star, but the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will carry out an additional verification through an independent third party to certify cities as 3-star, 5-star or 7-star.
• Also, cities will need to get recertified themselves every year to retain their star-status.

Analysis:

• The most significant feature of the rating is that it provides stakeholders with a single metric to rate a city’s cleanliness, rather than evaluating them separately with multiple factors that contribute to a city’s overall cleanliness and garbage free status.
• The SMART rating is being called as Single metric, Measurable, Achievable, Rigorous verification, Targeted.
• SBM-Urban’s objective of achieving a ‘clean India’ is encapsulated in the vision statement of the star-rating protocol, the aim is to make all the cities Garbage Free wherein at any point of time in the day, no garbage or litter is found in any public, commercial or residential locations in the city (except in litter bins or transfer stations).
• Another objective is to make cities 100% waste free wherein the waste generated is scientifically managed. Additionally, via this protocol, the government aims for a steady reduction in the waste generation.

By: Vishal