In the recently announced Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 awards, Ahmedabad was declared the cleanest city (population of 10 lakh or above category) in the country. It was ranked 15th in the 10 lakh-plus cities category in last year's ranking. This is a big leap and came as a pleasant surprise for the Amdavadis.
The awards, established under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, were started in 2016 with 73 cities. This year, 4,589 cities and towns were covered in the mega survey.
Considered to be one of the largest urban sanitation surveys in the world, the Swachh Bharat Mission evaluates cities on multiple parameters, comprising cleanliness in public areas, waste segregation and processing, open defecation-free (ODF) status, municipal innovation and digital monitoring, citizen feedback, etc.
Indeed, the AMC (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation) deserves all the praise for its day and night hard work done over the last year to meet all the parameters of the Swachh Bharat survey.
Municipal Body's Efforts
The AMC started its daily door-to-door collection of garbage from 20 lakh houses and 5 lakh commercial units since August 2024, with the help of more than 1,850 GPS-enabled vehicles. After all, the correct segregation of waste at source is a critical step in solid waste management.
Over 10,000 manual and night sweepers, plus 56 mechanical sweeping machines, have been deployed to keep the city and its roads clean.
The AMC officials said that they scrutinised 43,000 points of interest for cleanliness. More than 200 public toilets were renovated, while new pink toilets for women were constructed. So much so, the AMC remediated the legacy landfill at Pirana dumpsite, converting it into refuse-derived fuel and construction material. A waste-to-energy plant is now generating 15 MW of electricity.
Smoke emanating from the Pirana dumping ground.
Both the municipal body and the NGOs conducted workshops and awareness sessions for citizens on the significance of RRR (reduce, reuse, recycle). Several waste-to-art projects were introduced as part of the drive.
There is a punitive element, too. Swachhata squads have collected crores of fines for violations. The collection will be ploughed back for the betterment of the city.
Frankly, till a year ago, plastic was one of the biggest menaces in the city.
Disposing of domestic waste in plastic bags has been a common practice in Ahmedabad. Most of the plastic bags end up at waste collection nodal centres and ultimately at landfill sites such as Pirana, just 8 km from the iconic Sabarmati Riverfront in the city. It is the city's legacy landfill of garbage mounds that have 78 lakh tonnes of waste collected over 35 years.
Despite best efforts, thick smoke from the smoulders continues to pollute the environment as birds swarm above, braving the heat to pick their food. The stink in the air and on the ground can be felt from a distance.
Similarly, stink pervades in the garbage collection area of the Kargil area of the city, where overflowing garbage vans are lined up daily. For residents of the locality, it has become a nightmare.
Though there is a ban on plastic bags thinner than 120 microns, the enforcement challenges persist. Plastic is openly sold in the old city area.
Of late, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board has taken the initiative of installing cloth bag vending machines and reverse vending machines (for collecting plastic bottles) in key areas of the city.
Ground Reality
Even as Ahmedabad celebrates the top position among cities with a population of over 10 lakh in the cleanest cities category, several monuments and roads need regular maintenance and cleaning.
Much work remains to be done to make Ahmedabad comprehensively and sustainably clean. A trip around the city after the top-ranking was announced exposed craters full of rainwater on some roads. Construction debris is a common sight. Constant road repairs, pipeline and power line installations, and construction activities often result in scattered waste piles across the city.
Pavements are narrow and encroached by hawkers. At some places, even two and four-wheelers are parked on pavements. Cars and trucks were parked in no-parking zones in front of the AMC office.
Posh localities like Shyamal, Shivaranjani, and Law Garden, to name a few, are clean. However, historic places like the various darwazas or gates built during different periods, starting from the 15th century, as entrances to the walled city of Ahmedabad, are not maintained. These are heritage monuments and need to be preserved for posterity.
Muck and garbage around Prem Darwaza
Currently, the monuments and their surrounding areas are unkempt and dirty. For example, the walls of Delhi Darwaza are not maintained, while there is a big garbage litter and swamp next to Prem Darwaza in the walled city.
The Ahmed Shah's Mosque, preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India, needs an uplift. Ahmedabad was recognised as India's first World Heritage City by UNESCO, and it must protect the heritage monuments.
Citizens' civic awareness and participation in keeping the city clean are still missing in Ahmedabad. The AMC is yet to provide dustbins in localities, and littering is still prevalent despite the AMC's garbage pickup trucks making daily rounds. For example, in the Gota area of Ahmedabad, just one broken AMC dustbin was spotted, forcing people to litter on the road.
Roads and walls which were smeared with gutka spit and paan marks have been cleaned and painted in the city. But how will the government ingrain civic sense in people to not spit in public places? A fine of Rs 100 (as of November 2024) hasn't worked.
As a resident, one is proud of the city's recognition. But, without sounding sceptical, it's imperative the municipal authorities prepare and implement a plan in co-creating with the citizens, a culture of sustainable cleanliness.
(The author is Contributing Editor, NDTV)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
