The Union government’s Swachh Bharat Mission aims at making India clean by October 2, 2019 with a two fold objective of making the country 100 per cent free from open defecation and ensuring 100 per cent modern and scientific municipal solid waste management. Importantly, the mission is running in a time-bound manner with a clear deadline to achieve the above objectives.
As part of an ongoing process to review the progress of various components of the Swachh Bharat Mission, a 360 degree evaluation of the programme is being conducted by the Ministry of Urban Development through its partners Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The consultant team of ADB comprising S.R. Ramanujam, Director, Samatva Infrastructure Advisors, Mumbai; Sanjay Gupta, Senior Consultant, New Delhi; and Karuna Gopal, President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities, Hyderabad, visited the Mysuru City Corporation on Friday.
Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath gave a presentation on the Swachh Bharat Mission activities carried out in the city by the urban body so far.
The team had a three-hour long interaction with officials to understand the achievements, shortfalls and the actions needed to bridge the gap in the current work carried out under the mission.
Superintending Engineer Suresh Babu, Health Officers Dr. Ramachandra and Dr. Nagaraj, Executive Engineers UGD and Water Supply, Environmental Engineers of all zones and other officials were present.
Later, the officials visited the zero waste management centre at Kumbar Koppalu and compost plant at Vidyaranyapuram.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Betsurmath said the team had earlier visited the Directorate of Municipal Administration and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike in Bengaluru, consulted officials and collected their feedback on the mission.
“The team wanted to know the achievements and the shortfalls since the launch of the mission in October 2014. The departments and the corporations were being consulted for the feedback and incorporate suggestions,” the commissioner said.
Mr. Betsurmath said the team was explained about the activities done under the mission and the IEC activities besides the efforts made in freeing the city from open defecation.
Mysuru bagged the cleanest city tag under the mission for the second consecutive time this year and team from many cities visited the Mysuru City Corporation to learn about the efforts put in by the urban body to retain the recognition.
With building debris turning out to be a nuisance here and may affect the “clean” plans, the corporation said it is determined to address the problem of illegal and indiscriminate dumping of construction debris. The scale of debris has increased over the years with the rise in constructions due to the rapid expansion of the city.
Moreover, the Mysuru City Corporation control room had registered an increase in the number of complaints from the residents over the dumping of such debris in their neighbourhood, especially on the outskirts of the city and vacant spaces in the newly-developed residential suburbs.
The corporation is therefore mulling over offering land either at Kesare Sewage Treatment Plant or at the Sewage Farm in Vidyaranyapuram for the plant to recycle construction debris like bricks and concrete blocks. But, there appears to be no headway in the proposal.
