Prime Minister Narendra Modi having made his view on cleanliness obvious, the Union Urban Development Ministry has not only begun cleaning up its own offices, it has identified Delhi as the first stop for a “beautification” exercise.
On the makeover list is not only ornamental cleaning up of the city, but implementation of measures like decentralised waste collection and management, public toilets, especially for women, pedestrian-friendly walkways, removal of jhuggi-jhonpri clusters and rejuvenation of water bodies.
The Ministry has roped in all the civic agencies and utilities in the city to implement measures that have been announced over time, but only partially implemented like pothole-free roads, removal of debris, plantation drives, and rejuvenation of water bodies among others.
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On Monday, Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna read out a list of steps that will be taken over the next six months to beautify Delhi.
To ensure they are implemented, the programmes will be reviewed on a monthly basis.
“Agencies like the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) operating in the Capital will get involved in this drive to make Delhi a world-class city. The action plan includes improvement and beautification of roads, parks, roundabouts, pedestrian pathways, etc.,” Dr. Krishna said.
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The drive, which begins Tuesday, will include improving the green cover, beautification of areas around heritage structures, rejuvenation and beautifying water bodies, decentralisation of solid waste disposal system, more public toilets, and incentivising segregation of waste at the household level.
“All public buildings will get a fresh coat of paint, security bunkers will no longer be shielded with sandbags, the NDMC has offered to chip in money for modern porta cabins, there will be automatic laundromats at Dhobi Ghats, the DDA will hand over houses to the municipal agencies concerned for upkeep and small crematoriums will be constructed for animals,” Dr. Krishna said.