Published On : Mon, May 8th, 2017

Cleanliness Survey : Citizens’ feedback improperly done in Nagpur, believe experts

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Swach-Bharat-Abhiyan

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Nagpur:
The recent nationwide cleanliness survey which dragged Nagpur to 137th rank has not only brought a big shame to the city but also posed a serious question mark on the functioning of ruling BJP in NMC. However it turned out that this was not the first time Nagpur has lagged behind on the track of cleanliness. In a similar survey in 2015, Nagpur stood half way at 256th position among 476 cities. Again in 2016, 73 cities were surveyed in which Nagpur slipped to new low at 20th position. This year too, Nagpur scored only 1158 out of 2000 points, which pushed it to 137th rank. While NMC may derive some relief from the fact that the ranking has improved as compared to what it was in 2015, still there is long way to go before it removes the blot.

What Nagpur fetched?
A questionnaire called Municipal Self Declaration was handed over by the central government to various civic bodies. Based on the information furnished in the declaration, Nagpur scored 460 points out of 900 points. In addition to it, a special team from Delhi made a 3-day visit to Nagpur and toured various places in city including Bhandewadi dumping yard for onsite observation. On this count, the city got only 320 of 500 points. During its visit, the team also collected citizens feedback on cleanliness.

Final nail in the coffin!
The three-member team toured various areas of city only for one a half day, which experts believe, was not suffice to get the clear situation of city’s cleanliness status. Experts suggest that even if the team would have interacted for the whole day then only 3 to 4 thousand people could have been contacted. Nagpur clearly lacked in effective plan for Solid Waste Processing, open defecation and toilets in urban areas. Similarly, the civic body also took a hit in taking up awareness campaign through social media.

What Experts Say?
When Nagpur Today spoke to Kaustav Chatterjee, founding member of Green Vigil, a city based organisation working towards environment, he said that the city’s ranking affected because the team from Delhi surveyed only for one and half day, in which it interacted from select citizens. “The situation could have been better had the team surveyed the city for at least 10 days. However the mismanagement at Bhandewadi dumping yard played the big spoilsport in the result.”