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- Despite spending an estimated ₹3,119 per capita on sanitation services, Delhi’s three erstwhile municipal corporations – North, South and East – continue to rank poor in the Swachh Survekshan 2022 (annual cleanliness survey), while the city of Indore, which spent an estimated ₹4,073 per capita, has retained the top spot in the rankings for the sixth consecutive year.
- The latest cleanliness survey was completed prior to the merger of the three civic bodies in May this year. Officials at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) expressed varying views over the struggle of the civic body to gain better rankings, with some stating that the funds allocated for sanitation purposes were insufficient.
- Most civic officials told The Hindu that the larger problem lay in the improper segregation of waste, which was a result of poor enforcement of solid waste management rules, and minimal public awareness.
- The latest cleanliness rankings, which featured 45 cities, placed the erstwhile North, South and East corporations at 37, 28 and 34, respectively; in the 2021 rankings, the three civic bodies stood at 45, 31 and 40, respectively out of 48 cities.
- The 2020 rankings also show a similar trend.
The latest survey is based on three parameters:
- service-level progress (SLP) based on the data provided by urban local bodies;
- certification based on waste management, sanitation — garbage-free city (GFC) and open defecation-free categories (ODF) — and citizens feedback and engagement (citizens’ voice category).
“Going by the 2011 Census figures, the erstwhile East Delhi corporation spent roughly around ₹6,200 per capita for a population of 17 lakh, which is smaller than that of Indore.
- However, the East corporation found itself in the bottom 10 of this year’s rankings
- According to Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) Commissioner Pratibha Pal, the “golden rule” is ensuring that 100% of waste is segregated at the source.
Different approach
- By segregating waste into two categories — wet and dry — and currently we are doing it in six categories.
- This includes wet, dry, plastic, domestic hazardous, sanitary waste and electronic waste
- She added that another factor that helped IMC in maintaining the position was the political will displayed by Mayors and councillors who placed sanitation as a priority regardless of the party they represented.
- According to Satish Sinha, associate director at Toxics Link, a group focusing on environmental issues, the poor performance of the erstwhile North, South and East corporations is also because they “never pushed” people to segregate their waste and there have been no changes in the methods to increase awareness.
- “Even today, there are multiple instances of people not segregating their waste or the garbage collectors mixing the segregated waste. This is possibly the most simple step to ensure a larger change but the former Mayors and councillors showed no will to enforce this,” said another MCD official.
- When reached for comment, MCD’s director for press and Information Amit Kumar admitted that improper waste segregation remains one of the biggest issues but stressed that the civic body’s funding is insufficient.
SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB
