By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
Vijayawada, which was awarded the ‘Super Swachh City’ tag in the Swachh Survekshan, 2024, has been designated as a mentor city for five smaller ones in Andhra Pradesh under the ‘Swachh City Jodi’ initiative of the Central government.
The five mentee cities are Narsapur, Samarlakota, Akividu, Chintalapudi, and Gollaprolu. In accordance with the instructions of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Commissioner Dhyanachandra H.M., a meeting was held on Saturday to formalise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among these cities under the initiative.
A video conference was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, during which the MoU was signed by all the paired mentor and mentee cities.
The ‘Swachh City Jodi 2025’ initiative pairs high‑performing cities (mentor cities) with lower‑ranking ones (mentee cities) for 100 days to jointly take steps toward improved cleanliness and sanitation.
Cities that performed well in Swachh Survekshan 2024 are recognised as the mentor cities and paired with those with lower rankings to guide them. Vijayawada, which performed well in the annual surveys, will guide and support these five cities in achieving improvements in cleanliness.
Speaking after the exchange of MoUs, Additional Commissioner (Projects), VMC, D. Chandrashekhar pointed out that Vijayawada and the five partner cities would work for 100 days to achieve the goals.
Their present condition would be assessed first, and then guidance would be provided on all necessary measures to become better performing cities.
VMC Chief Medical Officer of Health K. Arjuna Rao, Assistant Medical Health Officer Babu Srinivas and Commissioners of the five cities M. Anjayya, A. Srividya, G. Krishnamohan, A. Rambabu, and Gollaprolu’s Assistant Engineer Mohammad Aleesha were present on the occasion.
