Does the city look visibly cleaner these days? Or is it just that more officials are talking about cleanliness these days? These could be the harping on the minds of the common man in the city.
Yes, is the answer for both the questions. For, the day to evaluate our city on cleanliness is round the corner. Madurai is among 500 cities and towns across the country going for an appraisal by the citizens and an independent authority under Swachh Survekshan. “Last year, we were ranked 26 among 73 cities that were rated for cleanliness. But, now, it is going to be tough for a big city like Madurai, because many smaller towns with a little over one lakh population will be competing with us,” said Corporation Commissioner Sandeep Nanduri.
Facing a daunting task, the Corporation has left no stones unturned to stay ahead in the ranking. “Will the conscious efforts taken by the Corporation to keep the city clean in the last three months reflect its status for a whole year,” was the question raised by one of the students during an interaction with the Commissioner.
Though the boy was critical about the Corporation’s efforts, behind the scenes, the city authorities have been taking elaborate measures to keep the city clean. The spot fixing efforts with painting of walls with colourful pictures by students and volunteers in the last few months have made many places free of open urination.
Plastic bag menace
Similarly, the endeavour to make all the four layers of streets around Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple free from plastic carry bags below 50 microns is paying off. “We have not only banned the biggest menace that chokes the drainage and ruins the environment, but also have encouraged shops to go back to cloth bags replacing the plastic ones,” said Corporation Assistant Health Officer K. Parthiban.
Swachh Survekshan is all about evaluating the city on its cleanliness on roads and streets and the availability and usage of toilets.
In the last one year, the Corporation has deployed an additional 500 conservancy workers, with focus on the annexed areas of 28 wards, and put in more dust bins and added a fleet of vehicles — all for keeping the city clean.
While daily sweeping is done, night sweeping is carried out in commercial areas and markets to keep them clean. Around 600 tonnes of garbage is cleared every day.
Besides, it has helped individual house-owners construct 3,500 toilets by way of giving subsidy. In slum areas, where land for construction of independent household toilets was not possible, the Corporation has constructed 40 community toilets.
Ultimate aim
“Making the city open defecation-free is our ultimate aim, as open defecation leads to diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and jaundice,” Mr. Parthiban said.
Madurai has infrastructure to treat its entire quantity of sewage effluent.
On the Swachh Survekshan, the city has given wider publicity, appealing to the residents to download the Swachhta App. “We are also encouraging people to use the app for lodging complaints where we are found lacking,” Dr. Parthiban said.
The Corporation is earnestly awaiting a good response from its citizens in the form of their feedback that would fetch them 600 marks out of 2,000 marks under the cleanliness survey.
S.S.A. Basha (35), a resident of Tahsildar Nagar, complains that Corporation still required a lot to do in improving sanitation in annexed areas. “Drainage issue is not properly addressed. Kiruthulmal channel with its sewage has been a mosquito breeding ground for Nelpettai and Munichalai areas. Similarly, there is slackness in garbage clearance, especially chicken waste, posing health hazard,” he said.
“People should know that the survey will bring lot of pride to the city if it gets ranked in the top positions. It is not a forum for public grievance. At the same time, we do not want them to give a skewed feedback but a very honest rating of our efforts,” Dr. Parthiban said.
Better rating will be a pat on the entire team of Corporation officials and employees that would encourage them to make the city better with more vigour.
Corporation is also seeking cooperation from the people, especially vendors, in keeping the city clean.
