India will soon have a rating index for cleanliness of cities with the Union Tourism Ministry planning to conduct their regular assessments and rank them accordingly.
The move follows frequent criticism about lack of basic cleanliness at various tourists hotspots, which has been a major hurdle in tourism development in the country. “In India, the lack of basic cleanliness in public places is glaring and also a paramount concern for all agencies associated with tourism. An effective intervention could be made by conducting regular audits or assessments at such places, and using the results to showcase and encourage best performers, and provide practical guidance to others making improvements,” said a senior official from the Ministry.
In this regard, the Ministry has issued an expression of interest to invite a professional consultancy firm to conduct a study on development of cleanliness index for cities across the country. Some of the indicative parameters for cleanliness index will be cleanliness at top 10 destinations decided in consultation with different authorities at each of the identified cities, cleanliness at entry and exit points like airports, railway stations, bus stands at each of the identified cities.
The cities would also be judged based on the measures taken to sensitise natives and tourists towards cleanliness and civic sense by State Government or Municipal Corporation. Recycling of waste, drainage management system of the city, frequency of garbage collection and disposal, cleanliness at one major shopping area most frequently visited by tourists in the identified city are also some important factors for rating the cities, as per the Ministry’s note.
The consultancy will look at the innovative practices adopted by the State Government and Municipal Corporation and see whether any Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is operated in the city. Cities which have set up sewage treatment plant, using innovative practices to keep the tourists spots clean, banned usage of plastic bags and have more number of public toilets in respect of population and level of their cleanliness will get better ranking, says the note.
The number of foreign tourists visiting India has shown a steady increase in the past three years. The number has shot up to 207.31 lakh in 2012 as compared to 194.97 lakh in 2011 and 179.10 lakh in 2010.