Monday Musing
[ M Doley ]
While cleanliness should be a way of life, we have largely failed to keep our towns clean and hygienic,as reflected in the Swachh Survekshan report.
The 2024-25 cleanliness survey revealed a grim scenario with only 25 per cent clean public toilets, 15 per cent clean residential areas and zero source aggregation in Itanagar. Door-to-door garbage collection in the capital city was only 45 per cent during the year, whereas its sister city Naharlagun (7th rank) performed much better with 78 per cent.
The 2024-25 cleanliness survey report ranked Itanagar 818th among cities in India with populations between 50,000 and 3 lakhs. Itanagar was ranked 25th out of the 48 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state, making it one of the dirtiest cities in the country and the state as well. Even Tawang, one of the places most visited by tourists, did not feature in the top 10. Jairampur in Changlang district secured the top spot as the cleanest town in Arunachal Pradesh, followed by Longding in the second position.
Likabali (Lower Siang), Tato and Mechukha (Shi-Yomi), and Dumporijo (Upper Subansiri) reported zero door-to-door waste collection. Daporijo (2%), Yachuli (1%), Ruksin (2%), Palin (2%), Sangram (1%), Raga (1%), Kalaktang (3%), Bordumsa (2%), Kaying (5%), Kimin (2%), Anini (2%), Ziro (8%), Kharsang (2%), Aalo (2%), Pangin (2%), and Namsai (15%) were the ULBs with lowest door-to-door waste collection record, ranked nationally between 1,750 and 2,030. No waste processing was reported in any of one the ULBs except Longding, where 15 per cent of the total waste was treated.
These findings warrant urgent action from the department concerned.
The new team of the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) has recently taken brave steps, including penalties for those who dump garbage on roadsides, and tearing down unauthorised posters, banners and hoardings, to keep the city clean. The IMC should continue this exercise by appointing flying squads to curb these nuisances.
However, citizens’ cooperation is crucial to maintain cleanliness. People must develop a civic sense and stop dumping garbage and spitting pan masala and gutkha in public places.
In their defence, many residents say garbage trucks have neither fixed timetables nor designated pickup spots. They say there should be a fixed timetable and designated spots, so that they don’t have to play a game of hide-and-seek with waste collection trucks. They say that mornings are hectic with household work with a lot to do in those few hours – from getting kids ready for school to collecting water, cooking food, and rushing for offices. While keeping towns and residential areas clean is the duty of the residents, fixed truck timings from the IMC would give them great relief.
Apart from the garbage issue, haphazard parking of vehicles adds chaos to the already congested roads. Vehicles are often found parked on footpaths, leaving no space for pedestrians. Not only does this force pedestrians to walk on the main road, putting them at risk of being hit by speeding vehicles, but it also damages concrete footpaths prematurely.
