SDG Urban Index: Chandigarh fails to match Shimla, Coimbatore on 9 counts

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 25

In spite of leading in clean water and sanitation and four other parameters, Chandigarh failed to maintain pace with Shimla and Coimbatore in the first Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Urban India Index.

With a composite score of 72.36, the UT stood at the third position in Niti Aayog’s first SDG Urban India Index and Dashboard (2021-22).

Shimla, with a composite score of 75.50 points, topped the index and Coimbatore got the second position with 73.29 points.

According to reports, Chandigarh fared better than Shimla and Coimbatore in clean water and sanitation segment with 87, 72 and 67 points, respectively. The UT also scored over Shimla and Coimbatore on four other parameters, including gender equality, clean water and sanitation, reduced inequalities and sustainable cities and communities. In the quality education segment, with 88 points, the UT was just two points behind Coimbatore, but progressed against Shimla, which got 69 points. However, the city lagged behind on nine of the 14 parameters, including no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, sustainable consumption and production, climate action and peace, justice and strong institutions.

The UT’s best performance was recorded in sustainable cities and communities segment. With 90 points, the city was far ahead of Shimla and Coimbatore (with 64 and 73 points, respectively). However, the UT lagged behind Shimla and Coimbatore in sustainable consumption and production. The Queen of Hills got the perfect 100 points and Coimbatore scored 91 points, whereas the UT got 74 points. Shimla maintained its progress and achieved 100 points in climate action segment, but on the other hand, both Coimbatore and Chandigarh scored similar 67 points.

According to reports, the SDG Urban Index and Dashboard ranks 56 urban areas based on 77 SDG indicators across 46 targets of the SDG framework. Of the 56, 44 urban areas have a population above one million and 12 are state capitals with a population of less than a million. The urban areas are ranked on a scale of 0-100 for each SDG and a score of 100 implies that the urban area has achieved the targets set for 2030.