MC, residents should join hands to restore Chandigarh's lost glory

Open House: What should be done to improve cleanliness & UT’s rank in Swachh Survekshan

Residents, admn must come together

The City Beautiful cannot achieve second rank like in 2016 until all three, residents, the RWAs and the Administration, work together. It is the people of the city, who only can take this initiative, whether they want to live in a clean city or not. Once decided to keep Chandigarh clean it will be done because these residents are part of different RWAs and government departments. Therefore, making residents aware is important.

Priyam Aggarwal, Chandigarh

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Work on solid waste management

Failing to segregate garbage at source, open dump at Dadu Majra and non-implementation of solid waste management plan are the main reasons behind falling of Chandigarh in Swachh Survekshan ranking. The Municipal Corporation has not been able to improve the sanitary condition of the city. Non-availability of sufficient staff and poor infrastructure at the ground level can be cited as reasons for insanitary conditions. The MC must try to work rigorously on this front. The civic body authorities must focus on cleanliness instead of imposing new taxes. This can be done in collaboration with resident welfare associations.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

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Waste management need of the hour

It is distressing that our City Beautiful’s ranking has gone down in Swachh Survekshan. There is a saying “Charity begins at home”. Residents are also to be blamed for throwing waste in the open and not segregating at source. Stray cattle and dogs roam in the residential areas defecating on roads, in parks and common places. The Municipal Corporation authorities have not taken any steps to control this menace, which leads to unhygienic conditions. Besides, waste management is the need of the hour. We must not throw waste in the open.

Col TBS Bedi (retd), Mohali

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Reduce, reuse and recycle waste

Waste management is the key to ‘Swachh Bharat’ and that is where the Chandigarh has been failing repeatedly. The private door-to-door waste collection model has not worked. The MC has miserably failed on three R’s of waste management - reduce, reuse and recycle. The UT has little to speak on waste management and disposal. Hence, its Swachh Survekshan ranking has gone down. The UT Administrator, MP, Mayor and councillors must handle this issue immediately.

Rajiv Boolchand Jain, Zirakpur

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Stray cattle roam freely in city

Every project of the Municipal Corporation whether it is Swachhta Abhiyan or any other campaign is based on lining pockets of people at the helm. So, lifting and disposal of garbage has failed many times in the past and will not succeed this time too. Roads, streets, parks and markets in the City Beautiful are dirty. Stray cattle roam freely and defecate at all places. Chandigarh will never regain the second spot in the Swachh Survekshan till corruption is there.

RK Kapoor, Chandigarh

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Lopsided waste management

There is no denying the fact that the Swachh Survekshan grading of Chandigarh had an adverse impact because of lopsided management of waste. City residents, who generate waste, must adhere to segregation norms. The MC can collect wet garbage from each household and send it to recycling plant everyday. Dry waste can be collected twice a week and sent for recycling. Such an arrangement might generate some revenue for the MC. Above all it will take improve city’s grading in the cleanliness survey.

SC Luthra, Chandigarh

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Penalise people who litter

The civic authorities cannot do anything without the cooperation of residents of the UT. They should be responsible enough to maintain high standards of cleanliness not only at their homes, but their surroundings too. A habit of cleanliness needs to be inculcated among children. The Municipal Corporation should keep an eye on tourist spots where litter is noticed. Penalising people, who do not throw garbage in dustbins, can be effective in checking littering. The Municipal Corporation employees should be regular in their duties. Only combined efforts of the civic authorities and residents can improve the cleanliness standards, which will in turn improve Chandigarh’s rank in Swachh Survekshan.

Bir Devinder Singh Bedi, Chandigarh

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residents must follow mc guidelines

The City Beautiful has gained a few points on the cleanliness parameters to improve its previous score, but it remains beyond satisfaction as compared its second rank in 2016. Councillors and residents need to work together. They should leave no stone unturned to make Chandigarh cleanest and most beautiful city in the country. Residents must follow the MC guidelines regarding segregation of garbage. The councillors and officials of the Municipal Corporation must ensure implementation of the garbage disposal guidelines. Joint efforts of all would surely yield desired results.

Hardeep Singh Sulach, Mohali

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MC, residents need to be more active

Responsibility of keeping the city clean lies on shoulders of residents equally as on the MC. Residents need to be more civic by not littering and throwing garbage in trash bins provided at places. They need to cooperate with the MC by segregating waste. The MC should provide more dustbins in the city and collect garbage on time. Roads should be cleaned in the night.

Abhilasha Gupta, Mohali

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check cleanliness in all sectors

The Municipal Corporation is responsible for maintaining cleanliness, but onus lies on city residents too. The authorities concerned must visit each sector once in a month and check the progress of cleanliness. Safari karmcharis sometimes do not take interest in their work. Residents’ welfare associations must cooperate with the MC and make sure that the staff deployed for keeping sectors clean works.

Tarlok Singh, Chandigarh

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Give more funds to keep city clean

Fixing responsibility is one method to improve cleanliness in Chandigarh. Factors, which reduce cleanliness in the city are over population, pollution, internal politics of the MC and the issue of waste treatment plant at Dadu Majra. Fixing responsibility of MC employees is the last resort. Poor Budget passed by the MC also hampers swachhta abhiyan in the city.

Avinash Goyal, Chandigarh

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UT lags in waste segregation

Chandigarh lags behind in waste segregation, which is integral part of collection. UT also did not fare well in waste disposal and processing because of the legal battle with Jaypee Group. The municipal solid waste (MSW) is not being processed as per rules. It is disposed of directly at dumping ground. Chandigarh should exert maximum on the MSW segregation at source. Door-to-door collectors managed by private firm should be immediately deployed by the Municipal Corporation on salary basis because they are the backbone of waste segregation at the source.

Dr PS Bhatti, Zirakpur

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Check Boys & girls littering parks

We alone can keep our City Beautiful clean as not much is expected from the MC authorities. We understand the importance of keeping our houses and surroundings clean. Consider city as joint property and start maintaining cleanliness at parks, markets and parking places. Dust bins should be installed at every place and used by residents. Parks littered with empty cold drink bottles, cans, cigarette packs and buts, packing for snacks etc present a bad picture of the city. Boys and girls are responsible for littering at public places. They should stop all this immediately.

NPS Sohal, Chandigarh

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Give incentive for innovation, good work

Fixing responsibility is not an easy and logically conclusive task because no project is a one-man show and the blame can be passed on to the system. The better line of action is motivation and giving incentives for innovation and good work. All endeavours go for a toss when waste dumps, roads and localities get inundated after rain. Maintenance and augmentation of stormwater infrastructure and construction of reservoirs to store rainwater should be mandated in low-lying spots the city. These reservoirs will make city look more swachh.

Lalit Bharadwaj, Panchkula

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Fix responsibility of all concerned

The Swachh Survekshan ranking of Chandigarh has not gone down well with residents. No doubt, maintaining cleanliness is MC’s responsibility, but it cannot be achieved without residents’ involvement. Cleanliness starts from houses, areas around houses, garbage disposal, roads, parks and markets. People should help the authorities to maintain cleanliness in the city. The authorities must start a campaign to make public aware about cleanliness and fix duties and responsibilities of all concerned to achieve top rank in the next survey.

Wg Cdr Jasbir Singh Minhas (retd), Mohali

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Pay attention to waste management

No doubt this year Chandigarh has improved a bit from 20th to 16th rank. Not bad. But, in 2016 the city bagged second and in 2018 third position in Swachh Survekshan. It means the city has steadily dropped in ranking. Yes, the authorities are responsible, but residents are equally responsible. The system for ranking a town makes sense only when people know about it and participation in it. To improve ranking the UT needs to pay special attention to proper collection, segregation and disposal of waste.

Vidya Sagar Garg, Panchkula

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Self-discipline need of the hour

Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan was launched to fulfil the aim of cleanliness. It means not only cleaning roads, infrastructure, but also using toilets and not defecating in the open. The City Beautiful rank dropped from third to 20th in Swachh Survekshan. Reason is undisciplined population. People throw leftover of eatables, plastic empty bags and bottles on roads. They vandalise public property and use public parks for partying. Garbage is not lifted for many days. Safai karamcharis also don’t take responsibility. Until and unless people are taught self discipline, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan will not gain significance.

Charu Malhotra, Mohali

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Improve door-to-door garbage collection

Both residents and the Municipal Corporation must coordinate to maintain cleanliness in Chandigarh. Residents should not throw horticulture waste, debris, polythene and paper outside their homes. Door-to-door collection of waste should be improved. Every councillor should hold meetings with residents’ welfare association of his/her ward to create awareness about sanitation. People should be fined for littering, spitting and defecating in the open.

Anita Tandon, Kharar

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Adhere to ‘restrict, recycle and reuse’

Cleanliness starts from the door of an individual. Every resident is responsible for keeping his/her house and surroundings clean. The MC should ensure regular lifting of garbage and disposal. Once can find heaps of garbage still lying in the open. Also, garbage has to be segregated at source and lifted accordingly. The principal of restrict, recycle and reuse, which at present is lacking, has to be adhered to. There is no check on stray animals, which is responsibility of the MC. Keeping city clean is not possible without cooperation of the people and the MC.

Capt Amar Jeet Kumar (retd), Mohali

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Support MC to make city clean again

Although Chandigarh has upped its rank in the Swachh Survekshan from last year, yet it’s still far below the second rank achieved in 2016. To fare better, the Municipal Corporation (MC) should improve waste collection, segregation, processing and disposal, which will lead to sustainable sanitation. The civic body must also clean vegetable markets, slums, Dadu Majra dumping ground, upgrade the grievance redressal system and aim for achieving the five-star garbage free cities (GFC) certification. Residents must support the authorities in making ‘the City Beautiful’, beautiful and clean again.

Simran Sidhu, Chandigarh

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Not much achieved in four years

City jumping to only four ranks in the Swachh Survekshan this year is discouraging. The city should have at least achieved it old rankings of 2016. It could have been possible if the MC authorities, residents’ welfare associations and the public in general would have seriously cared for the cleanliness in the city. Though official responsibility of maintaining cleanliness lies on the MC, residents welfare associations can play a big role by ensuring timely removal of garbage from respective localities and proper maintenance of parks and roads.

Balbir Singh Batra, Mohali

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Determination is the key to success

Everyone knows that Chandigarh is a modern and beautiful city. Despite this, it could not give the best performance in Swachh Sarvekshan. The civic authorities and residents are equally responsible for not maintaining cleanliness. Determination is the key to success. The MC and residents should take interest keeping the city clean. Heaps of garbage should be removed from roadsides (for example near Central Library, Sector 34, Chandigarh ) and Dadu Majra. The MC should check and supervise cleanliness work in routine. No one should throw garbage in the open.

Sumesh Kumar Badhwar, Mohali

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Concerted collective efforts will bear fruit

The responsibility for city’s upkeep and cleanliness lies with the Municipal Corporation. Chandigarhians too are equally responsible to ensure such conditions. Each sector should choose and appoint its own “Swachh Abhiyan Marshal”, who should daily take rounds of the area to ensure that residents do not litter trash. Punishment those, who litter. Create awareness, followed by hammering into collective unconscious need for cleanliness, and finally build intolerance for dirtiness. The concerted collective effort would certainly bear fruit.

DR SS Bhatti, Chandigarh

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increase capacity of waste treatment plant

Chandigarh is not doing as good as expected on the parameters of Swachh Survekshan. The two main parameters where the City Beautiful is lacking behind others are 1) residents participation and 2) waste management. The authorities concerned should increase the capacity of waste treatment plant by installing a new and modern technology plant. The MC should improve maintenance and cleanliness of roads and surrounding areas and ensure people’s participation.

Bharat Bhushan Sharma, Chandigarh

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Develop civic sense among residents

Chandigarh is still low in cleanliness ranking because there is little accountability of the authorities and residents. We got to develop a good civic sense not only to solve the problem of garbage disposal, but also to keep the city clean. Fines by the MC are in order, but it alone will not help. There are many, who throw litter on roads and in streets. In Chandigarh, garbage can be turned into fuel and manure. If garbage collectors do not turn up, we ourselves dispose it in a bin. Take initiative, do it yourself. Don’t keep blaming others. Thinking out of the box will help.

Colonel RD Singh (retd), Ambala

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Find drawbacks in cleanliness

The prime responsibility of the administration is to raise the level of infrastructure for cleanliness in the city. But, the role of general public is of paramount importance to further maintain it. Take it for sure that no movement can be transformed into revolution without the sincere involvement of civilians at mass level. Agencies involved should find drawbacks in cleanliness and put their best to improve conditions to revive honour of the City Beautiful. Residents must help wholeheartedly to achieve the desired outcome.

Surinder Paul Wadhwa, Mohali

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Keep public toilets clean

Follow two-point development programme for Chandigarh to make it a clean city. First, all roads to and inside Apni Mandis should be made of cement. During the rainy season, they become muddy and dirty and inconvenience buyers. Public toilets at places like hospitals, markets and parks must be kept clean. If finance is a problem then these may be converted to “Pay and use” mode.

Dr AK Agarwal, Chandigarh

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City is plagued with civic issues

Chandigarh bagged 16th position in Swachh Survekshan owing to the poor waste management and segregation. Besides, the city is plagued with other civic issues, including rainwater drainage, cleanliness, broken roads, poor maintenance of greenbelts and non-functional street lights. The MC has abdicated its responsibility and all these works have been given to contractors. Consequently, the MC is on the verge of taking loan for giving salaries to its employees and major works have been deferred. Thus, the fault lies not on any individual, but on the capitalist system in which we all live.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh

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Swachhta is like tonic for residents

It is joint responsibility of the civic authorities, individuals, RWAs, institutions and establishments to make efforts for maintaining cleanliness in the City Beautiful. We all are aware and know well that the benefits of ‘Swachhta’ are as best as tonic in life.

Jagdish Singh Jassal, Panchkula

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QUESTION

People in the tricity are facing rain-related problems such as road cave-ins, waterlogged streets and water entering houses and offices. Despite these being recurring problems during the monsoon, why are the civic authorities caught unprepared every year? What measures do you think should be taken to prevent these problems?

Suggestions in not more than 70 words can be sent to

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