|
Gautam
Chatterjee, additional municipal commissioner, is known to be a
grim person, but as he gets talking about the Swachcha Mumbai
Abhiyan of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), his eyes
light up. Swachcha Mumbai Abhiyan is planned in Mumbai for
the three-month period from 15 August to 15 November 2002. This
period covers major festivals in the city. It will be extended
after reviewing its progress.
Says
Chatterjee, “The Abhiyan is different from others because
of its PPO approach – participation-partnership-ownership”.
Elaborating, he says, that this time round, the citizen will be
made aware of the need to participate and will be encouraged to do
so. The BMC will explain to citizens’ groups its modus operandi
for clearing garbage and cleaning the city. Mumbai generates, on
an average, 7,000 metric tonnes of garbage per day. The BMC clears
the collection bins once a day and the trash is then transported
to dumps. Some bins, however, are not cleared everyday. The BMC
would like to explain to its citizens the reasons for such lapses,
reasons like resource crunch or a lack of human management and
would like to seek citizen’s help in rectifying it. Thus, it is
envisaged that “the citizen will know his bin and help keep it
clean”. Such a citizen, then, is no more a participant, but
rather a partner and “owns part of the cake”. The next step,
says Chatterjee, is for the citizen to take up complete ownership,
so that even in the absence of the BMC, he/she can keep the local
bin area clean.
Chatterjee
says that the BMC has started numbering the 6,230 odd bins in
Mumbai. This way unauthorised bins will be identified and closed
down immediately. They will now be in a position to know exactly
which bins have not been cleared on a daily basis. Earlier,
abstract figures like ‘‘35 tonnes of garbage are pending for
pickup in a particular ward” were given to him. Chatterjee said
that he can directly enquire with the junior officer concerned and
find out the reason. “This measure will bring a level of
accountability into the BMC machinery, thus transforming it from a
low level of management to an average or satisfactorily level”,
hopes Chatterjee.
Chatterjee
says the collection of garbage from bins will take place at
appointed times and the citizens will be required to dump trash at
these bins only an hour in advance. If the schedule of the BMC
pickup is regular, then citizens will be able to follow it and the
administration will be in a position to achieve zero garbage at
the bin for 23 hours in the day.
The
core group behind Swachcha Mumbai Abhiyan included
citizens’ groups like the Dignity Foundation, Rotary Club and
AGNI, among others. The corporate sector will also be encouraged
to help with financial aspects. Advertising agencies, Lintas and
O&M have already contributed with their advertising expertise.
Rag-picker associations like Stree Mukti Sangathana and Forum for
Recycling Community & Environment (FORCE) are being provided
BMC vehicles for collection of dry waste, and a place in most
wards for its segregation.
Chatterjee
adds that the Abhiyan has to deal with problems like people
spitting and defecating near trash bins. It has set up nuisance
detection squads, which will patrol certain key areas of the city.
So far 50 prominent areas have been identified – Hanging
Gardens, CST Terminus, etc. The squad consists of a BMC official,
a citizen volunteer and a security guard sponsored by the
corporate sector.
Gautam
Chatterjee says “citizen resource” plays a vital role in the Abhiyan.
This includes corporate house, shopkeepers, hawkers, slum dwellers
and residents of buildings. He adds, “They should each take up
ownership of the space around them and install dustbins for public
use, thus keeping entire areas clean”.
|
Home
Message
Board 
About
Us 
