India’s second cleanest city in 2017 — Bhopal
What do you think of when the term “Indian Cities” come to your mind? Is it slums of Mumbai as portrayed in the popular movie Slumdog Millionaire or is it the holy banks of Ganga and Yamuna populated with millions of devotees washing away their sins?
Well it is certainly true but only partially. The sheer vastness of diversity in India is also portrayed in its actions. Every city of India of is being constantly evaluated and ranked on various parameters under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The rankings of these cities make them able to distinguish themselves than the the popular portrayal of “dirty” and “poor” cities of India.
Pollution of any kind is a global concern, and the number of pollutants in the environment have increased exponentially over the past few decades. Several government schemes, social service groups and even individual actions have been taken up to help mitigate the problem however, an optimal solution is yet to be discovered. With the passage of time, we began to observe minute differences.
The level of pollution varies from village to village, city to city, and country to country. The question however, why does variation in pollution levels takes place. To answer this, we tried to understand why Bhopal was ranked as the 2nd cleanest city of India in the 2017 Swachh Bharat survey conducted by the central government. On asking a person in living there they gave us some insight. Bhopal is a tourist spot and is known for its lakes so government tries to keep it as clean as possible. There are many cities which are famous tourist spots and yet Bhopal is the cleanest of them all. The difference over here is the authorities. The government officials are very responsive and responsible. They take the cleanliness of the city very seriously. They are basically doing the duty they have been assigned which is bringing so much of difference.
Pollution doesn’t only depend on how much waste is produced but also on how the waste is treated. There are many government plans in Bhopal tackling this problem. There were many initiatives taken to make Bhopal garbage free like “Bring your own bag” (BYOB), restricting single-plastic use, online monitoring of movement of garbage vehicles, weighbridges at transfer stations. BMC installed weighing machines at transfer stations where waste is weighed before sending it to the landfill site.
There are many awareness campaigns carried out as well like Run Bhopal Run and Swachtha Yatra where may people took part including students. There were huge events like Ijtema, where a large number of devotees flocked, to clean garbage. The government took stricter measures and spot fines for reducing plastic use, digital spot fines on spreading filth in restaurants, hotels. There were many innovative ideas as well like bartan bank to dissuade people from using plastic cutlery and making ropes using used clothes. E-bikes were given to assistant health officials. These things made sure that Bhopal stood apart in the competition.
