Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The city has been ranked at number 7 in the Swacchata Survekshan 2021, a rank it had earned in 2020 as well. Irregular waste collection in old parts of Bhopal, sewage water spilling on roads and lack of public participation in cleanliness mission are factors, which impacted the rank of state capital.
Free Press spoke to residents and former public representatives to know the reason for poor performance in pan India survey. Excerpts
No belongingness
Former Mayor Alok Sharma says that the people in Bhopal who have come from other cities, do not feel that the city is theirs. He said in Indore, the residents take pride in being an Indori and thus they keep their surroundings clean and it is a reason for the city being number 1, for five times in a row.
He further said when they were a part of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), they would organise events like, Chai pe charcha, in markets to connect traders and visitor with cleanliness mission.
He says that due to absence of public representatives, there were hardly any such events organised by officers in BMC. We would also talk to different associations and would aware them about cleanliness around and it reflected in our rank in 2017 and 2018, when Bhopal was second cleanest city in the country.
Whom to contact?
Former corproator Shahwar Mansoori says that there are places in Ghoda Nakhas and surrounding areas where piles of waste can be seen for a week.
“The residents call me, though I am not a corporator now, and ask me to call some civic body official when smell emanates from the waste”, he says. As there are no public representatives in civic body, the residents have no one to inform about their grievances even if the waste collection vehicle does not reach them for two days. “We would get funds during the council’s tenure that would be used for small projects like cleaning or maintaining local nullahs, which is not the case now,” he adds.
Garbage heaps
Shaquir, a resident of Ghoda Nakhhas, says the waste of Navbahar Market is dumped at a fixed spot around and is not lifted for several days. He says that sometimes, the waste is spread on roads and there is no one to check it.
