: The drive for a cleaner Puducherry is now in mission mode.
A draft action plan has been formulated to make the Union Territory clean in all respects by 2019, with clearly spelt out milestones for achieving targets on multiple fronts such as littering, underground drainage coverage and clean public places and offices are on the cards.
The authorities have acknowledged what NGOs and civil society have been highlighting for some time — that broken roads, pavements, footpaths, encroachments on streets leading to difficulty in servicing, littering on streets, unhygienic markets, inadequate/improper sweeping of roads and public places are the bane of the city.
The action plan, which seeks to leverage the momentum of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project, ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, has also spelt out these as among the important factors sullying the sanitation environment. Poor sanitary conditions in public places such parks, schools and dispensaries and other government buildings have been identified as areas that need urgent attention.
While also bringing in the lack of co-operation from public as a factor behind the current state of affairs, the draft plan has proposed to introduce new system of imposing fine on those who litter and also to offer incentives.
A top official in the Local Administration Department said, “The thrust is to bring awareness behavioural change among public on littering the public spaces. We hope through an orientation programme to raise public awareness and engage their participation in the clean-up effort”.
The government expects the public to extend their cooperation by keeping their residences and neighbourhood clean. “They should not leave every task of maintaining cleanliness to the government alone,” an official said.
The government also asked departments and organisations to chalk out long-term and short- term measures to work on improving sanitation in their respective fields. The District Collector / Regional Administrators have been tasked with drawing up short term measures in one to two months- to identify the gaps, prepare detailed action plans.
The long-term measure should be completed within a year.
“We are getting inputs from various departments which we are consolidating for putting forth to the Government of India. In about a fortnight, a final proposal will be sent to the Union government.”
To ensure cleanliness in the government offices, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms will shortly send out a comprehensive circular to departments and offices and ensure regular supervision. Among the measures recommended would be prompt disposal of unusable inventories and obsolete files, proper record room management by classifying and sensitisation of staff in sanitation and hygiene.
As per the strategy, a focused drive would target classrooms, campuses and offices and stadia. Students would be sensitised to carry the message forward in the community, starting with their own families.
The onus of maintaining cleanliness in buses and bus depots and driving the message home among private bus operators, taxi and auto drivers would be on the Transport Commissioner, Managing Director of Transport Corporation and Commissioners of local bodies.
Provision of sufficient bins in Chunnambar and other tourist spots and sanitation in all the restaurants and cafes managed by the Tourism department are the priority actions spelt out for the Tourism Director. The Commissioner of Hindu Religious Institutions has been tasked with ensuring proper sanitation and waste management in temples, mosques and churches while the Agriculture Director would lead an awareness campaign among the farmer community and also strictly enforce sanitation amongst all traders and market yards. The Chief Executive Officer of Slum Board & Commissioners of Municipalities will be responsible for creating awareness among slum residents with the help of NGOs and providing proper maintenance of community toilets. The clean city programme will also create litter-free zones and beautify industrial zones.
