When the government starts to function like a corporate office, these surveys, competitions, and awards become the carrot and donkey chase. Where awards are the carrots and citizens are the donkeys." - Jitendra Rajaram
"From Gonda (listed as the dirtiest city in India) to Indore (the cleanest city in India), I have experienced fact and fiction of ‘clean India’ claim. It’s a lie that nothing has been done as much it is a lie that significantly has been done to make Indore cleanest city. It’s shock to many and surprise to many more that Indore ranks above Navi-Mumbai, Bangalore and Greater Noida.
In Indore, I live near old trenching ground since last three years. This trenching ground was the only garbage disposing unit for a city which is home to 3.8 Million people. A place where burning garbage was the only masterstroke to dispose of garbage. The suffocating, stinking and poisonous smoke had made lives of many like hell. After three long years of public protests and follow-ups, administrators heeded upon abandoning this trenching ground. This, however, is not something to be called as a success. The colony we live in has broken sewage line that floods the entire main road. This area stinks like hell, traffic makes the situation worse. Our relatively new colony has empty plots around the new apartments, these plots are turning into new trenching grounds. While no one cleans this stinking garbage from empty plots, in the name of cleanliness movement, all we hear is a jarring song every morning. A song that has replaced our alarm clocks, oozes from the garbage collection vehicle that promotes the municipal campaign for cleanliness (a good move though).
Well, no doubt, main roads of Indore cities have become clean but this is more because of the road constructions and BRTS constructions are over. Except for Agra-Bombay Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road and Ring road the condition of other places has nothing sort of cleanliness or hygiene. The government hospitals are as infectious as it has been ever since they’re built. The life track of Indore, MG Road, has no urinal or toilets. The main city intersections like Palasia, Geeta Bhawan etc. has no restrooms. The restrooms of important public places like petrol pumps, intercity bus terminals have no appropriate toilets for women. If shopping malls, business parks, and prime hotels are excluded, Indore city has negligible accessibility of drinking water, public toilets, and garbage disposal units. A locality called Suraj Nagar, home to the most of the laborers and street hawkers has muddy streets, makeshift bathrooms, urinal stinking corners and pigs rattle all around. There are many such localities in Indore left unattended. On what measure will this city then be considered as clean?
If graffiti, posters, wall paintings and hoardings are the parameters, Indore must rank one. If selfie revolution is a parameter, Indore must rank one. These social media campaigns, wall-paintings, and hoardings contain slogans that victimize people. People’s habit as the only reason of dirty urban India. This entire campaign nailed people guilty of the filth as if municipal corporation or any other administration machinery had no negligence whatsoever pertaining to it. This camping has removed street hawkers from Rajwada, Jawahar Marg, and MG Road without considering any alternatives of their livelihood. The system headed to their crying demand of right to earn livelihood only when a gherao led by ‘Roti Ka Sangharsh Association’ laid siege around the house of Sumitra Mahajan (Parliament Speaker and Indore’s six-time Member of Parliament from BJP). However, except assurance, no action has been taken so far.
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