It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell which city in the country is the cleanest. The reason: a multiplicity of surveys and reports. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his Swachh Bharat Mission there have been three surveys “ one each by the Quality Council of India, the Union Ministry of Urban Development and Central Pollution control Board and a third by the Centre for Science and Environment. Naturally, each arrived at a different result because each had a different criteria or a different approach to the survey. So which city in India is really the cleanest?
According to the latest survey conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment, Panaji along with Alappuzha in Kerala and Mysuru are the cleanest in the country because they have a garbage collection and disposal system that works. We have no idea how the system works in Alappuzha or Mysuru, but in Panaji, the collection system seems to work quite well. The system for composting and disposal is not as efficient as CSE thinks it is.
For one, Panaji still does not have a garbage treatment plant, something that was probably missed by the CSE. It is perhaps the only city to have a garbage dump bang in the middle, to be more precise, on the parade ground. Did the surveyors descend on Panaji after this mountain of waste was covered by blue tarpaulin?
It is common knowledge that Panaji has been struggling to set up a garbage plant on 1.70 lakh sq mts of land acquired for the purpose at Bainguinim near Old Goa. Why? Because its short on cash and double short on political will. Meanwhile an alternate plant is being developed behind Heera petrol pump near the main bus stand. Until one of these plants becomes a reality waste will continue to be dumped at Patto, which is considered the Nariman Point of Goa. Depending on the direction of the wind, people who visit the area are reminded of the government’s failure to find a permanent solution to the garbage problem.
On the positive side, the city does have an efficient collection system with segregation-at-source being strictly adhered to. Of the 95 composting stations scattered all over the city about 75 are working and residents of the city have to pat themselves on the back for making this system work, more importantly for attempting to find solutions within the city and nearly succeeding at it.
Panaji is clean by most standards. And a real test for the level of cleanliness is a trip through the back alleys which, most will agree, are relatively cleaner. This was not achieved over night, but in fact, was 20 years in the making. The important turns in this long journey came when the city decided to get rid of bins, which was followed by segregation at source. Construction of a garbage treatment plant should have been the next step, but politicians and the not-in-my-backyard attitude conspired to stop this otherwise fruitful journey in its tracks. Despite this setback, Panaji is inching forward, but is still has to deal with the mountain of garbage at the Campal parade ground before it can triumphantly say, ‘we have succeeded’.
