Even as the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) celebrates its cleanliness drive with cycle rallies and pledges, ground realities across the city tell a simply different story. A ground survey of city localities reveals heaps of garbage dumped along footpaths and roadsides. Stray cattle are seen scavenging through the waste. Plastic bags, food waste, broken items and construction debris lie scattered across pavements that were once meant for pedestrians. Open drains alongside these stretches are packed with garbage and silt, with no sign of recent cleaning. This is the reality of Jabalpur today, the same city that is chasing a number one rank in Swachh Survekshan 2025-26. Public feedback, a crucial component of the Swachh Survekshan exercise is already on-going. Citizens rate their city on cleanliness based on what they see around them daily. What they are seeing right now may not work in Jabalpur’s favour. The Municipal Corporation has claimed it has begun pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and nullahs across the city.

 

Officials say the drive is in full swing. But again, the tall claims fall flat as ground realities tell a contradictory story. Drains are choked with waste and accumulated silt. In several areas, drain covers are broken or missing. Garbage has been dumped directly into open nullahs. This is not a minor concern. Monsoon is just weeks away. Blocked and silted drains are the primary cause of heavy waterlogging. If these nullahs are not cleared in time, residents in low-lying localities will pay the price - waterlogged homes, stagnant water and the health hazards that follow. The difference between the Municipal Corporation’s claims and the actual situation cannot be ignored. Rallies and oath-taking ceremonies make for good optics. But Swachh Survekshan rewards cities where cleanliness is visible every day, not just on the morning of an event. The civic body has set an ambitious target. The clock is ticking. Citizens are watching. And the surveyors will not just count cycle rallies, they will walk these very streets.