Amritsar is among country’s 10 filthiest big cities
Punjab does not have any city in the top 100 list (1-lakh plus population category) in the national cleanliness rankings. Hindustan Times begins a five-part on major cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, and Bathinda, taking an in-depth look a
AMRITSAR Home to Golden Temple, Amritsar is one of the most visited places in the world but among the filthiest big cities in the country. The recent Swachh Survekshan rankings showed it slipped from 184th rank last year to 236th position in 2020.
With a population of 13 lakh, the holy city is ranked ninth among the country’s 10 filthiest big cities in the annual survey under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The city was ranked 39th among 47 cities across the country with a population of more than 10 lakh.
Amritsar was ranked 236th out of 429 cities this year, if we place the city in the more than one lakh population category, the pattern that was followed in previous surveys. In 2019, the city’s ranking was 184 out of 425 cities.
The poor ranking in this survey was attributed to improper garbage collection and its disposal and delayed civic works.
Amritsar managed to score 40% marks (2,459.31 points out of the total 6,000), in this survey and scored 1,046.27 points in citizens’ feedback, 838.72 points in direct observation, 373.32 points in service levels progress (SLP) and just 200 points in documentation. Each category was allotted 1,500 points.
However, the city scored 48% (2,406/5,000 points) in the 2019 survey and 50% (2,039/4,000 points) in the 2018 survey, in the more than one lakh population category. The city is losing marks in SLP and direct observation,
every year, while the citizen’s participation is improving gradually.
Problem areas
The city has no planned system of garbage collection and disposal. Door-to-door collection
. facility is not available in the walled city area around Golden Temple and comprises 11 of the 88 wards. Sewerage lines in the walled city are choked, resulting in overflowing waste. Garbage collection in other wards is also irregular.
The city has failed in solid waste management as the concept of garbage segregation (separating wet and dry garbage) is not being followed. More than 15 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste has been accumulated in the city’s Bhagtanwala
dump near Golden Temple. The bio-remediation plant went non-operational soon after its installation. 400 tonnes of garbage is added to the site daily.
Amritsar member of Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla says,
“Though municipal corporation officials are trying to make the city better and using resources, they are unable to generate more funds. Due to inadequate funds, we don’t have machines and infrastructure.”
Apathy of citizens
MC health officers Dr Yogesh Arora says of the required 26,000 people, 19,000 city residents downloaded the Swachh
Survekshan mobile app.
Only 1.69% of Amritsar’s population participated, while in Indore, the cleanest city in India, the percentage was 11.88.
Unkept green belts, dirty public toilets, unclean water bodies and piles of garbage are for all to see.
The city is not plastic-free and the number of dustbins in commercial and public areas is inadequate.