In urban areas, usual noises & excuses

Sanjeev Singh Bariana in Chandigarh

Not even one town, out of the 167-odd in Punjab, is ‘open defecation free’, nearly three years after the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on October 2 by Prime Minister Narender Modi. 

The mission has several components. The drive against open defecation and solid waste management are most important.

Only 501 wards out of total 3,033 in the state are open defecation free. Punjab has been able to construct only 21,142 toilets out of the 1,38,920 identified houses. This works out to only 15% of the total. Minister of Local Government Navjot Singh Sidhu blames people’s mindset: despite having toilets at their homes, many did not use them. 

In-charge of the mission, Amardeep Dhaliwal, has this to say: “The Centre contributes Rs 4,000 per house in two instalments for the scheme. The state is expected to contribute a minimum Rs 1,333. At least 91,125 houses had taken the first instalment of grant from the Centre. One cannot build a toilet in Rs 5,000.”  

The government has so far spent only Rs 52.75 crore out of Rs 75 crore received. The reason for slow arrival of grant is incomplete projects. 

Simran Dhaliwal, a resident of Green Avenue, Amritsar, says: “Travel anywhere in the state, you can see piles of stinking waste.” A general conversation with a cross-section of people across the state is enough for civic agencies to know that waste management has not been adequately addressed.

A municipality is supposed to hand two different cans to the residents to segregate biodegradable and solid waste. There has not been any result so far.

Sites for solid waste management plants have not been finalized at majority of the eight centres in the state. Amritsar and Bathinda residents are protesting at the current sites at Bhagtanwala and Bathinda-Mansa road respectively. Jalandhar and Ferozepuir centres, too, are facing a problem. And no site has been finalised in Pathankot.