Indore cleanest, Bhopal No 2 but residents point to filth

INDORE AND BHOPAL RESIDENTS WERE SURPRISED THAT THEIR CITIES MADE THE CUT IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Indore and Bhopal were adjudged the country’s number one and two cleanest cities on a government list on Thursday. But the feat drew more expressions of disbelief than laudatory wows from people living in the two MP urban hubs.

The BJP government in the state and the municipal corporations celebrated the accomplishment after the Union urban development ministry announced the results of the Swachh Survekshan 2017 of 434 cities across India.

Besides, 11 cities in Madhya Pradesh featured in the top 50 rankings.

“#Swachhsurvekshan2017 Awards reaffirm our commitment to make MP model state in India for cleanliness, sanitation, waste management practices,” tweeted chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Among the five survey parameters were collection, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste; and open defecationfree environment.

Residents of Indore and Bhopal were surprised that their cities made the cut in solid waste management, an area both were struggling with.

The cities don’t have an ecofriendly mechanism to process and dispose of garbage.

“It’s only the main roads tha look clean. This cleanliness rank ing is more of a joke than a matte of pride for me,” said Bhanu Singh, a chartered accountanc student in Indore.

Solid waste is dumped openl at Bhanpur Khanti in Bhopal, practice that puts at risk the envi ronment and people’s health.

“The ranking is shocking. In Bhanpur Khanti, people wer forced to leave the place as ther was no processing unit and th dumping of waste had contami nated the land and water. Now they have started dumping near historical ground at Shahjehan Park, too,” said Abdul Jabbar, civic rights campaigner.

However, Indore scores ove the capital city in respect of peo ple’s toilet habits.

Indore was declared the firs “open-defecation-free” district in India.