Will Delhi remain clean after PM’s abhiyan?

NEW DELHI: A day before the official launch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the BJP-led municipal corporations were in overdrive to clean the city with additional sanitation staff and other resources.
The clean-up over a week has Delhiites wondering why it couldn’t be done earlier. “It is surprising to see sanitation staff sweeping roads and clearing dhalaos daily.Earlier, dhalaos were not cleared for days, even after complaints to zonal offices. I was surprised to see sanitation staff clearing the dhalaos in my area daily,” said Nikhil, a resident of Munirka, adding, “What has changed suddenly now?”
Although upkeep of the city is one of their primary duties, residents say the corporations have failed miserably in it. From outsourcing sanitation services to accepting complaints on their social networking site, they have started several schemes for better sanitary conditions. Yet, seven years and several schemes later, the corporations have not been able to streamline the waste management system.
RWAs blame the lackadaisical attitude of councillors and corporation official for the mess. The civic agencies have always blamed lack of funds and resources for poor sanitation. “The corporations have failed to deliver the most basic civic service to people. It was their sheer lack of will to work that made people suffer. Now that the PM has started the initiative, all councillors and officials are taking it seriously. We can see a visible change in their attitude,’’ said Chetan Sharma, chairman of Federation of GK-II RWAs.
Senior BJP functionaries accept that the corporations should have taken this step earlier. “We have been doing a lot of work to keep the city clean, but I admit that the civic agencies could have done better. Such an initiative should have been taken earlier. But now that the PM has started Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, we are going to ensure that it is a success,’’ said Satish Upadhyay, Delhi BJP president and councillor from Malviya Nagar.
Lax monitoring, lack of infrastructure, accountability and awareness, and the multiplicity of authorities are prime reasons for the failure of all the schemes started by the civic agencies ever since waste management was privatized in 2005. In 2009, the erstwhile MCD started door-to-door waste collection in two zones—Rohini and Civil Lines. It outsourced the project for effective implementation. Of the three municipal corporations, only East Corporation has not outsourced waste management. At present, private concessionaires are responsible for lifting waste from dhalaos and dumping it at landfill sites.
After the PM’s initiative, BJP workers are confident that sanitary conditions will improve in the city. But, officials say, the arrangements made for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are temporary. “We have deployed additional staff and resources for the initiative. This is a temporary arrangement and things will have to be withdrawn after the drive is over. We don’t have funds to hire additional resources. For better sanitation, we have to educate people. Citizens have to make an effort to keep the city clean,’’ said Manish Gupta, commissioner, South Corporation.