Has Bhopal learnt lessons from earlier results of Swachh Survekshan?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bhopal Municipal Corporation and public representatives are making tall claims to be well-prepared for upcoming Swachh Survekshan Awards but our reporter’s visit to the old city puts a big question mark on such claims. Within the city, there exists a historical settlement. The area boasts of the legacy of which the ‘City of Lakes’ stands tall. The small pavements of the old city, though narrate the history of the generations of the Bhopalites and the memoir when the ‘new’ city was playing in cradle, are now in a scruffy state. This situation is not just limited to a certain locality but express the overall plight of the old city. The improper management of drainage, the stinky smell, the filth at the street slam the tall claims of the administration of the city being the cleanest capital in the country. Reaching at a area in the old town a passer who is a shopkeeper and has spent his childhood in Jehangirabad, on the condition of anonymity said,

 

“The city is my birthplace and in these years, I have no doubt is saying that the concerned authorities have done nothing for elevating the condition of old city. From a historical perspective, the old city is an important part of the city and attracts tourists from all over the country. But, no developmental works are being carried out in the area. All the schemes are only limited to the new city,” he alleged. Another woman also said that the area has always remained the same. Moving further in the city, a middle aged man reiterated the problem of filth in the city and reiterated that the officials have turned a blind eye towards the same. On being about the cleanliness drives by the municipal corporation, a man sitting at a tea shop posed serious allegations over the working of the BMC and said that these drives are only initiated in only some areas of the city.

 

The whole area is filled with problems of filth and untidiness but there is no one to listen to us. “ I believe that the old city is agony for the civic authorities,” he alleged. ‘The Hitavada’ also spoke to Municipal Commissioner Harendra Narayan over the issue where he denied the allegations made by the citizens and said that the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) is committed to ensure cleanliness in the city. On the allegations of cleanliness drives by the commissioner being organised in certain areas of the city, he said, “Comparatively, I have visited more parts of the old city. I have covered all the parts and more actions have been taken against the officials of these areas on the grounds of dereliction of duty by them. For instance, an action was taken against ward official of ward number 35. These things are on record and data cannot be manipulated,” he said.