Bengaluru swacch? Report must be faulty, say activists

Bengaluru: The Union Urban Development Ministry’s decision to rank Bengaluru as the cleanest capital in the country under its Swachh Bharat campaign has raised many eyebrows. Many civic activist Deccan Chronicle spoke to faulted the report and its methodology.

Mr N.S. Mukund of the Citizen Action Forum rejected the ranking outright and questioned the yardsticks adopted the rankings. He said, “If Bengaluru, which is now known as garbage city, has been given number one ranking, then what is the state of others capital cities? You go to any ward, be it rural or urban, the main issue is garbage clearance. There is garbage everywhere and storm water drains have not been cleaned for years. On what basis was the ranking given?”

On the other hand, Mr R.K. Misra, an urban expert, welcomed the ranking, but felt there was a lot more that needed to be done. He said, “Compared to other capital cities, like Kolkata and Mumbai, our city has been clean by and large. It was well maintained, but for the last two years, when our corporators looted the people. Hopefully, things will change with the coming election. Having said that, I would also like to clearly state that Bengaluru is not clean as it used to be.”

Mr V. Ravichandar said: “The ranking just goes to show that other cities have bigger problems than us. It is a relative ranking and not an absolute one for sure. To my understanding, the ranking is primarily based on two criteria, namely open defecation and solid waste management. The rate of open defecation is low in Bengaluru and though non-functional, we have around 650 public toilets in place. As far as solid waste management is concerned, a lot has been done in terms of thinking. In the last one year, we have identified many processing unit sites. The ranking is more on intent rather than on efforts and visible results.”