The Hindu : New Delhi News : Special sanitation drive fails

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Special sanitation drive fails

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, OCT. 19. The month-long sanitation drive launched by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in view of the coming festival season has "failed" to make any impact on the overall cleanliness of the Capital, particularly roads, parks, markets and public places.

Heaps of stinking garbage outside dhalaos, dirty roads, streets and market places, and rotting solid waste in bins attracting birds and stray cattle is a common sight across the Capital.

Residents of the city complain that there has been no improvement in the cleanliness. Instead, people thronging markets and places of worship grumble that the situation has deteriorated in the past one week as the MCD has failed to deploy additional manpower or put in an extra effort to keep these places neat and clean in view of the festival season.

Launched on October 14, in the wake of the adverse comments made by the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, on the city's cleanliness after her visit to Raj Ghat on October 2, the special sanitation-cum-cleanliness drive was aimed at giving an aesthetic look to the city during the festive season. Besides the on-going Navratras, Durga Puja, Dusshera and Ramlila, it is also the holy month of Ramzan, which would conclude with Id-ul-Fitr. The festival season will culminate with Diwali next month.

With hundreds of small and big Ramlilas being staged across the city and scores of Durga Puja pandals mushrooming everywhere and thousands of people visiting these places every evening, organisers of these events complain that they are being forced to deploy their own men to do the cleaning.

"The MCD is not deploying any staff for sanitation. On the other hand, we have to virtually plead with their junior engineers to send the MCD vehicles to lift the garbage from here," said the organiser of a prestigious Ramlila in the Walled City.

Besides these makeshift pandals and places of worship, there seems to have been little improvement in the sanitation of important public places like the inter-State bus terminals and railway stations.

In fact, filth and garbage could be seen around these places where thousands of people visit every day. Despite specific instructions from the Municipal Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta, not many measures have been taken to ensure timely removal of garbage from here or regular cleaning of these places.

"The place remains as dirty as ever," observed Raja Das, a frequent traveller by bus while coming out of the Kashmere Gate bus terminal on Monday.

While directions like cleanliness and disinfection of all public conveniences, launching of anti-fly measures and applying of a fresh coat of paint to central verges and road signage yet to be implemented, the MCD has also not deployed any extra staff for night cleanliness.

Also, with markets officially opening up till late in the night, cleanliness of these places has only worsened in the past few weeks.

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