Bidar was the 22nd cleanest city in the country in 2010. But it does not appear in the list of clean cities this year. One of the main reasons why it lost the clean city tag is its inadequate efforts in treating the garbage it generates.
The city generates over 40 tonnes of waste every day. Waste is collected from door-to-door in a few areas and from roadside dust bins in other areas. The bigger container vehicles carry the garbage to a waste dumping site at Sultanpur, near the Karnataka-Telangana border. The 50- acre plot contains heaps of garbage that are left to dry. Six years ago, the City Municipal Council announced plans to set up sanitation fills and manure-making units by convincing home makers to segregate waste at source. This is yet to materialise. There was a plan to turn the Sultanpur yard into a huge open air vermi – compost unit. This plan too is yet to take off. The only development was a seminar organised by the Indian Heritage Cities Network last year.
On the other hand, the smaller trucks carry waste only till the outskirts of the city and dump it into a moat outside the fort wall near Dulhan Darwaja. The stinking mounds line up the road till Ashtur, a monument recognised by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Fatima Anwar Ali, CMC president, said officials were not cooperating with the civic body. “I want to make Bidar the cleanest city in the country. But officials are irresponsive. Our projects are not approved and money is not sanctioned for the action plan,” she said.
Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tewari said all action plans have been approved and necessary funds sanctioned. “We are implementing a comprehensive waste disposal plan through CMC and Nirmiti Kendra,” he said.
