MUMBAI: Though a political blame game has begun over Mumbai’s low rank in the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ (cleanest city) list of the Union Ministry of Urban Development, apathy on various levels appear to be the prime reason why India’s financial capital slipped 19 points, from 10th to 29th rank.
A month before the ratings came in, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) presented its budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 allocating Rs 2246.59 crore for solid waste disposal, more than those in the previous five years.
The budget has allocated Rs 369.11 crore for storm water drainage, more than the previous year but lower than that of the provisions in preceding years. Around 8,000 tonnes of garbage is generated in Mumbai every day, and the city has spent over Rs 13,000 crore on cleanliness in the past decade. Yet there is no considerable change in the civic situation.
“Not just the filth, the city is marred by potholes and choked gutters. This survey is a proof that the allegations we levelled (against the Sena-BJP) before the recent civic elections were true,” said Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam.
Shiv Sena, which rules the corporation, blames BMC and the state government for the city’s fall in the ranking.
“Whatever the ratings may say, but who knows whether the ratings have not been tampered with like the EVMs,” Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said in the editorial of his party mouthpiece Saamana. “We have legislations against spitting, open defecation, littering on roads. But, there are people who are least bothered of all these laws. There needs to be a rating on who these people are and where do they come from.”
Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kiran Dighavkar, who is spearheading the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in BMC, says that its low ranking is due to apathy of the people. “The actual score of Mumbai this time is better than previous year. This year the weightage of people’s participation in the Swachh Survekshan was increased from 25 to 30 per cent. Only 5,000 people out of over 1.25 crore of city’s population responded to the questionnaire,” he said.
“Nobody cares for the city,” said Chandrakant Shinde, a civic activist who runs a campaign named Mi Mumbaikar for awareness over civic issue.z