In an attempt to give a competitive push to sanitation efforts in the city, the Ropar AAP leadership has launched a ward-wise competition among elected municipal councillors (MCs), with cash rewards for those who succeed in keeping their areas the cleanest.Ropar MLA Dinesh Chadha has announced a Rs 10-lakh award for the councilor whose ward is adjudged the best in sanitation, while prizes of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh have been announced for the councillors securing the second and third positions, respectively.The initiative is aimed at making elected representatives directly accountable for sanitation in their respective wards and encouraging them to involve residents in keeping their neighbourhoods clean. The competition is also expected to put greater emphasis on scientific waste management rather than merely removing garbage from streets.Chadha, when contacted, said the award money would be utilised by the winning MCs for improving facilities in their respective wards. He added that the councillors would also be honoured by the government for their performance.One of the key criteria for judging the wards will be the promotion of segregation of waste at source. At present, residents in several parts of the city continue to mix organic and plastic waste before handing it over to sanitation workers. The practice makes collection and subsequent processing of waste more difficult.Officials and sanitation workers have repeatedly faced problems because of the mixing of wet and dry waste. Organic waste and recyclable material require different treatment, while mixed garbage also increases the burden on workers involved in sorting and processing waste at municipal facilities.Under the new initiative, MCs have been asked to encourage residents in their wards to segregate waste at their own level. The objective is to ensure that organic and plastic waste is separated before collection, enabling the municipal corporation to process the waste scientifically.The competition thus seeks to shift the focus from sanitation workers alone to a community-driven approach, with councillors acting as the link between the municipal machinery and residents.The sanitation drive comes at a time when the AAP leadership in Ropar district has stepped up efforts to improve cleanliness in urban areas as performance parameter before Assembly elections. Chadha has been taking an active role in pushing sanitation-related measures in Ropar, while the education and local bodies minister Harjot Singh Bains has also been visiting different towns in the district and taking part in cleanliness activities.With substantial cash incentives now attached to the sanitation competition, the AAP leadership hopes the councillors will compete not merely for the prize money but also for recognition as representatives of the cleanest ward.The competition is therefore expected to test not only the ability of MCs to keep their wards clean but also their capacity to mobilise residents and bring about a change in everyday waste-disposal practices.