Small cities put metros to shame in cleanliness ratings

Mahendra Kumar Singh, Times Of India, May 11, 2010

NEW DELHI: They may not have the glamorous tag but when it comes to cleanliness and sanitation, smaller cities like Chandigarh, Mysore, Surat, Tiruchirapalli and Jamshedpur have beaten the metros in the sanitation rating released by the Union urban development ministry on Monday.

Not surprisingly, Chandigarh is on top, followed by Mysore, Surat, New Delhi Municipal Council area and Delhi Cantt in the top five list of civic areas graded by independent agencies appointed by the ministry.

Cities like Tiruchirapalli, Jamshedpur, Mangalore and Rajkot fall in the top 10 list out of 441 cities and towns with a population of more than one lakh subjected to the test.

What could surprise many, Kanpur, once a major industrial city and considered quite polluted, ranked 10th in the list.

With an ambitious task of 100% sanitation, the ministry took up the rating exercise with the objective of promoting safe sanitation in around 400 cities and towns across the country.

Though Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) could not make it to the list of top 25 released by the ministry, metropolitan areas -- Navi Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai -- got the 11th, 12th and 13th rank, respectively. Kolkata could manage the last rank in the list of top 25 cities and towns.

Cities and towns have been rated on parameters such as complete elimination of open defecation, elimination of open scavenging, safe collection and disposal of total human excreta.

On basis of the rating, cities are been classified as Red, Black, Blue and Green which would denote increasing level of achievement of good environmental and health outcomes.

The overall sanitation standard in cities and towns in the country was reflected in the fact that not a single city could achieve the top most classification of Green, while only four -- Chandigarh, Mysore, Surat and New Delhi Municipal Council area -- could find a place in second best classification of Blue.

Though the ministry did not release the list of the worst (Red) category, only 25 cities and towns out of 441 could find place in the Blue and Black categories.

The Capital's neighbouring township of Noida could manage the 17th rank while Ahmadabad achieved the 19th place. Haridwar got the 21th rank and Vijaywada 24th in the list.

Releasing the rating, urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy hoped that some cities would reach the top most Green classification soon. He said the rating exercise for class I cities and towns was undertaken in order to sensitize the states and cities as well as citizens about the current state of sanitation and raise awareness about the need for improvement.

With the Centre pumping in thousand of crores of rupees on upgrading urban infrastructure, the focus now is on improving the quality of life in most of the cities as along with the rating, a sustained sanitation awareness campaign has also being launched.

Reddy said: "The purpose of this exercise is to recognize better performers as well as to encourage other cities to perform better. The idea behind the exercise is to galvanize action in states and cities towards better sanitation."

"Given the scale of urbanization and state of sanitation, this is a very timely initiative and I am sure that all stakeholders will join hands in this national endeavour of creating total sanitized cities," Reddy said.

For the daunting task, the ministry had roped in three agencies -- AC Nielsen, Development & Research Services and Centre for Environment Planning Technology. The ministry provided Rs 3.5 crore to the agencies for the rating and Rs 25 crore would be spent on the sanitation campaign.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Small-cities-put-metros-to-shame-in-cleanliness-ratings/articleshow/5914236.cms

MCD fails cleanliness test

Mahendra Kumar Singh, Times Of India, 11 May 2010

New Delhi: It wont come as a surprise to Delhites: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD),the biggest civic agency in the Capital,could not manage to give Delhi a place in the top 25 cities of the country rated by the Union urban development ministry for cleanliness and sanitation standards.

But to cheer some residents of Capital,the New Delhi Municipal Council the elite municipality which houses VVIPs,politicians and bureaucrats and Delhi Cantonment,where mostly army personnel live,managed the fourth and fifth place in the sanitation ratings released by the ministry on Monday.

As expected by many,Chandigarh,one of the most planned cities in the country,tops the rating,and smaller cities of Mysore and Surat managed the second and third place,respectively.Tiruchirapalli,Jamshedpur,Mangalore and Rajkot fall in the Top 10 list graded by independent agencies appointed by the ministry.

In one of the most daunting tasks taken up by the ministry,441 cities and towns with a one lakh plus population have been rated on parameters such as complete elimination of open defecation,elimination of open scavenging and safe collection and disposal of total human excreta.On the basis of the rating,cities have been classified as Red,Black,Blue and Green which would denote increasing level of achievement of good environmental and health outcomes.

Not a single city could achieve the top most classification of Green,while only top four cities Chandigarh,Mysore,Surat and New Delhi Municipal Council area could find place in the second best classification of Blue.The others in the list of 25,including Delhi Cantt,could only manage the Black classification.The ministry did not reveal the list of cities falling in the last Red category.Its not only MCD that is a bad performer if one looks at the National Capital Region.For only Noida could manage to find a place in the list,at the 17th place.

Releasing the rating,urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy said: The idea behind the exercise is to galvanize action in states and cities towards better sanitation. The aim of the rating is to recognize and reward improvements made by a city towards becoming totally clean and healthy by achieving 100% sanitation.

GOOD SHOW: NDMC,the elite municipality which houses VIPs,politicians and bureaucrats,found a place in the second-best cleanliness classification of Blue

Cab drivers pick up broom to save Ganga

Binay Singh, TNN, The Times Of India,VARANASI, May 9, 2010,

VARANASI: There were many tourist cabs parked at the Ganga ghats but they were not neither encroaching nor ferrying foreign passengers. The Sunday morning provided an unusual sight to those up and about the many ghats as drivers of tourist cabs left the driving seat and picked up a broom instead. Sweeping the ghat-steps, picking up plastic bags and other waste dumped in the river, they also set an example for others.

Generally, cleaning drives and other such activities are conducted by local NGOs, voluntary organisations and government agencies. The only duty of these cab drivers is to bring foreign tourists to the majestic riverfront every morning and other important places for sight-seeing. What was the reason that compelled them to a role reversal, albeit for one day?

"Gangaji aur Ganga ghat humare vyavsay se sidhe jude huye hain. Agar tourist yehan ana band kar denge to humari rozi chali jayegi (The Ganga and its ghats are directly related to our profession. We would lose our job if tourists stop visiting the ghats)," pointed out Vijay, one of the drivers.

The cleaning programme was organised by the Tourist Driver Welfare Association (TDWA). "The cleaning programme will take place on every Sunday," said Pappu Yadav, TDWA president. They were hopeful that their efforts would bring about a significant change if about 250 drivers associated with the organisation volunteered for this purpose once a week. "Besides cleaning the ghats, we also want to 'steer' the sentiment of local citizens as well government machinery," said Gokul Kumar. "The Ganga, which is the identity of the city, is in crisis due to pollution," he added.

The drivers also have the support of Government Approved Tourist Guide Association (GATGA) in this work. "We have extended full cooperation to the drivers who have started this ghats and Ganga cleaning drive," claimed GATGA president Shailesh Tripathi. He, along with his fellow guides, also assisted the drivers. "Both tourism and the Ganga are synonymous in Varanasi. The tourists will stop visiting Varanasi if the Ganga fails to attract them," said Tripathi and added survival of tourism industry in Varanasi depended on the national river.

According to the records of tourism department, over 40 lakh visitors from India and abroad come to Varanasi every year. The statistics showed that 38,98,557 domestic tourists and 1,88,853 foreigners visited the city in 2009. So far, over nine lakh tourists already visited the city in the first two months of the year. The Ganga ghats are the main attraction for all of them. Beside an important tour destination for foreigners, the culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the holy river and its religious importance. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganga rid them of sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of birth and death (moksha). The crescent shaped Ganga and unique culture of Varanasi make the city a major tourist destination for foreign tourists in India.

"But, it is sad to see that people, who revere the Ganga as mother, unmindfully dump plastic bags and garbage into the river," said Tripathi. They cleaned many ghats including Dhashashwamedh, Sheetala Ghat, Rajendra Prasad Ghat and others on Sunday. The drive would continue with the cooperation of all 117 members of GATGA, he said.

The cleaning of ghats is the responsibility of Varanasi Nagar Nigam while the Ganga pollution control unit of UP Jal Nigam looks after the river cleaning under the Ganga Action Plan. But, it is known to all that both the agencies have badly failed to fulfil their responsibilities. Even the government reports admit that the quality of Ganga water has not improved despite the investment of crores of rupees under GAP initiated in 1985. However, the Ganga has been declared as national river and a National Ganga River Basin Authority (NRGBA) came into existence to clean the river.

Recently, the Union ministry of environment and forests announced major new thrust on the Ganga cleaning in March last. The government has decided to provide a major impetus to the programmes for the cleaning of the Ganga under the Mission Clean Ganga initiative.

According to reports, a fund of Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the NGRBA for the financial year 2010-11. Besides, in the first phase, projects worth Rs 1,394.11 crore have been cleared by the Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) of the NGRBA. These include projects in Uttar Pradesh (Rs 800 crore), Bihar (Rs 440 crore), West Bengal (Rs 105 crore) and Uttarakhand (Rs 45 crore). The fund would be spent on the development of sewer network, sewage treatment plants and sewage pumping stations, electric crematoria, community toilets, development of river fronts, resuscitation of canals and public campaigns in the country. It may be mentioned here that under the Mission Clean Ganga, no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents will flow into the river by year 2020. A project worth Rs 496.90 crore for Varanasi has been approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC).

"The Ganga should be saved at any coast. It is not the responsibility of the government alone but all citizens are equally responsible to save the holy river from pollution," said the cabmen and guides in one voice.

Aamir Khan is CBSE schools' sanitation ambassador

"We are happy to have Aamir as our brand ambassador. We hope, he will help this scheme become a success," said Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal after launching the National School Sanitation Initiative at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

Sibal said that through movies the actor had created public opinion related to education and his involvement would help the cause of sanitation. Aamir has starred in education-related movies such as Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots.

Aamir, after accepting the honour, said he will sit down with the HRD and urban development ministries to know more about the issue and may create a "package, which will be easily available through CDs and Internet, for use in schools."

However, after the programme got over, hundreds of students mobbed the actor while asking for his autograph. With little security at his disposal, the situation became quite unmanageable. But Sibal came to the rescue of the actor and took him away from the conference hall.

Earlier, Sibal had announced that health and wellness clubs will be set up in all schools for better sanitation practices.

The minister said only nine per cent of school students wash their hands before eating and these clubs will promote such issues among students. "They are the future and their good health will help a better tomorrow."

Anshu Vaish, secretary school education, said at least 45 per cent of Indian schools do not have separate toilets for girls. "This is impacting girl students' admission and we have a long way to go in improving this situation."

Vaish said that initially the health and wellness clubs will come up in CBSE schools as it was its initiative. "We will inform all the state boards and if they want all the material can be translated to desired regional languages."

Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who was present at the event, said safe drinking water and sanitation were part of the millennium development goals and the government was striving to improve the situation.

"With this initiative, we will create awareness about sanitation at the school level. Students are change agents and we are targeting them," Reddy said.

The initiative is in collaboration with the HRD ministry and the Urban Development Ministry. It is estimated that 17 per cent of the urban population in the country has no access to sanitation facilities, while 50-80 per cent of the wastewater is disposed untreated.