Mumbai: The BMC has taken several drives in the past few months to keep the city garbage-free. However, it still continues to get several complaints related to heaps of garbage lying on roads. As per the civic data, the solid waste management department (SWD) of the BMC has received 7,485 complaints from June 7 to October 9. Kurla, Andheri West, and Malad were found to be the most unclean areas with the highest number of complaints.
A ward ‘E’ official was transferred after the chief minister, Eknath Shinde, found the Mazagon dock area unclean last month. Soon after that incident, Shinde instructed the BMC to ensure major city roads and lanes were cleaned regularly. Following the directives, municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal ordered the senior civic officials to spend two hours daily to inspect the cleanliness of Mumbai's roads. Still, there are few places in the city where the problem remains the same, complain activists.
The WhatsApp chatbot number deployed to take garbage complaints has recorded 5,709 and 1,776 complaints related to garbage and debris, respectively.
"We forward the complaint to the concerned ward. Our team visits the place through GPS location and ensures that the garbage is lifted immediately. There are few spots where garbage is dumped frequently; the problem will only lessen if the citizens stop throwing garbage on the road," said a senior civic official.
Here is what activists have to say:
Godfrey Pimenta, an activist from Andheri, said, "I have been regularly sending several complaints about garbage lying in Andheri East, Saki Naka, and Marol. It shows the non-performance of the civic officials. The garbage dumped by the hawkers is not lifted immediately."
Anil Galgali, an RTI activist from Kurla, said, "The area is highly populated while the garbage vehicles are low in number. So the BMC should increase the trips of vehicles lifting the garbage."
A report by the NGO Praja Foundation in May highlighted a rise in SWM-related citizen grievances, from 5,519 in 2013 to 12,351 in 2022. Notably, the majority of the complaints in 2022, nearly 4,356, pertained to uncollected garbage.
