Cleanliness, sanitation ‘dumped’ in Jalandhar
Jalandhar’s low ranking of 119 in Swachh Survekshan 2020 proves the inability of city authorities to act quickly to sort out the waste management system, including doorto-door collection and segregating garbage at source. No development work has been sanctioned and the Wariana dump problem has been ignored too
JALANDHAR: It’s the hub of the sports goods industry and one the most prominent cities of Punjab after Amritsar, but Jalandhar has had quite a flop show in Swachh Survekshan 2020, securing an allIndia rank of 119 out of 382 cities with a population of up to 10 lakh.
Jalandhar has also scored a poor 50% in all parameters in the surveys of 2018, 2019 and 2020, chiefly because it lacks an effective garbage disposal system. City authorities, too, have failed to sanction any major development civic works in the last three to four years, say some municipal corporation officials on condition of anonymity.
In the recent Swachh Survekshan, Jalandhar secured a 50% overall score (3,095 out of 6,000). This includes 988 out of 1,500 in citizens’ feedback; 1,138 points for direct observation (physical observation by the survey agency) out of 1,500; 374 points in service level progress (status of open defecation, garbage collection) out of 1,500 and 500 points in certification out 1,500.
The city ranked 166 in 2019 with a score of 2,499 out of 5,000 in the survey, doing worse at rank 214 in 2018 with 2,002 points out of 4,000 among the category of cities with a population of more than one lakh.
Problem areas
Without a solid waste management plant, nearly seven lakh tonnes of garbage piled up at the Wariana dump, which receives 500 tonnes of waste every day. A ₹70 crore bioremediation project planned by the municipal corporation (MC) to treat waste through microorganisms and other methods has yet to take off.
People’s participation is key too, says an MC official. “We need people to cooperate as we don’t get segregated waste from every household. The main areas of the city have been covered for door-todoor collection of waste, but segregation is not done.”
About 80 wards and 11 villages of the Jalandhar Cantonment assembly constituency have been added to the MC–controlled zones, but the delimitation of the villages is yet to be done.
At loggerheads over hiring staff
Criticising officials for delaying important waste management initiatives, the Union of Sanitation and Cleanliness Employees in the MC, asks why more staff are not being hired on contract.
The union and MC are at loggerheads over hiring contractual employees.
Environment authorities have noted the problems too and the National Green Tribunal panel headed by Justice (retd) Jasbir Singh has directed the Jalandhar authorities to come with a permanent solution to deal with the Wariana dump.
Chandan Grewal, president of the union, says the city’s upkeep and maintenance are problem areas because of acute shortage of staff. Just 1,700 to 1,800 employees including safai sewaks and garbage collection staff are on the rolls. Comparing it with other civic bodies, Grewal says the Ludhiana MC has a staff strength of 8,000 and Amritsar has about 4,500 people working for them.
“The officials of the corporation should be questioned about the (Swachh rankings). We have been demanding that sanitation or cleanliness staff be hired on a regular basis, even if it has to be on minimum wage, but we are determined not to allow any contractor to earn a profit”, says Grewal.
Denying any shortage of funds under the Swachh Bharat or Smart City missions, Jalandhar central MLA Rajinder Beri feels the need for quick utilisation of funds on projects.
“We have to develop small garbage dumps at every colony where waste can be disposed of at zero point,” he suggests.
There has been leakage of funds, alleges a senior MC official, also on condition of anonymity. “It has to be checked and the money used for development,” he adds.
Basic repair work not done Prominent roads in the city, especially near the Bus Stand and Nakodar Road have damaged surfaces and potholes in some spots which require urgent repairs. Tenders for the works are being processed, officials say.