Friday, 26 November 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
With a score of 63.71 Doon placed on 35th position among 56 cities
The provisional capital of Uttarakhand, Dehradun has performed poorly in the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Urban Index released by NITI Aayog. It is ranked on 35th position amongst 56 cities in the country with a score 63.71. Interestingly Shimla which is the capital of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh (HP) is at the first position with 75.5 score .
The cities were given points on the basis of 14 sustainable goals like good health and well being, no poverty, quality education, affordable and green energy among others. Among these sustainable goals, Dehradun has performed poorly in three categories- zero hunger, industry, innovation and infrastructure, and climate action with 45, 47 and 31 scores respectively. The city scored 52 to 59 points in five categories- no poverty, good health and well being, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, and sustainable cities and communities. In the remaining seven categories, Dehradun has scored from 72 to 96 with the highest points in the affordable and clean energy category.
The cities were divided on the basis of the score secured out of 100. Cities with scores between 65 and 99 were called as ‘front-runner, cities with scores between 50 and 64 were called ‘performers’, cities with scores below 50 were categorised as ‘aspirants’ and a city with 100 points was called an ‘achiever’. However, none of the cities made it to the latter category. With an overall ranking of 35 with 63.71 scores, Dehradun falls under the third category ‘aspirants’.
A social activist and founder of the Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation, Anoop Nautiyal said that the city has a score of 31 in the climate action category which is a matter of grave concern. He said, “Dehradun is known for its environment. The authorities concerned should work on future urban policies after considering all the facets of the urban index. The SDG index encourages cities to adopt and implement data-driven decision making and the government here should consider it for the sustainable development across the state.”
