Wednesday, February 17, 2016

[Editorial # 67] Making cities clean and sustainable: The Hindu


[Following editorial has been published in The Hindu on 17th February 2016. Read through it and try to answer the questions that follow. Please do not copy and paste answers. The objective of this exercise is to get you in the groove of answer-writing. Try to write in your own words. Don't hesitate to write in a bulleted-format, if you are uncomfortable in writing in paragraph form.]

A century ago, Mahatma Gandhi lamented that the Indian city was mostly a stinking den, and Indians as a people were not used to city life. The squalid urban landscapes of the 21st century, with mountains of garbage merely relocated to the suburbs to maintain “clean cities”, would seem to prove that not much has changed since then. The quest for clean cities has only grown more complicated, as steady urbanisation is putting pressure on a poorly prepared municipal administration system, and the more affluent consumers produce ever-higher volumes of trash. The neglect of social housing, sanitation and water supply has ensured that there is nothing like a truly clean, green and sustainable city. It would not be fair, of course, to dismiss the efforts of cities such as Mysuru, Chandigarh and Tiruchirapalli, which have scored the top three ranks in the competition organised by the Swachh Bharat Mission of the Ministry of Urban Development to choose the cleanest cities for 2015. In fact, with the high level of political will now being shown to address the problem of waste and filth, there has never been a better time for State governments to act. Beyond the cosmetic solution of removing waste to landfills or releasing untreated sewage into hidden waterways, however, the challenge is staggering — even with the 1.04 crore household toilets and five lakh community and public toilets to be built, the sewage treatment capacity in cities would have to be expanded by 63 per cent. The scenario is equally depressing for solid waste, since only 20 per cent of it can be treated scientifically at present.

The Centre’s decision, against this background, to ask fertilizer companies to sell municipal compost is among the more promising initiatives to stem the rising pile of trash. Cities can take a leaf out of international best practices, and encourage communities to create food gardens in every area possible using this resource. At the very least, reduction of garbage can be achieved if residents start segregating their waste at home, and municipalities acquire the systems to manage it. But there is a major policy disconnect here, since tonnage-based contracts issued by cities have created a vested interest in transporting waste to landfills, rather than to reduce it through rules that require segregation, composting and recycling. The imagery of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which currently dwells on citizen behaviour and the visual appeal of clean cities, needs to extend to waste reduction and recycling. Building the necessary infrastructure is easier today, since a variety of financial instruments are available, including Central funds, corporate sponsorship and the Swachh Bharat cess on services that alone will garner an estimated Rs.3,700 crore during 2015-16. Achieving sustainable clean cities will ultimately depend on the attention devoted to human development and environmental governance. Without inclusive city planning, affordable housing, water and sanitation, the trend of urbanisation can only add to the squalor that depressed Gandhiji in Varanasi. This is the bulwark on which cities can achieve cleanliness and good health.

Questions:

1. Do you agree that Indian cities are not clean? What makes you think so? What are the factors responsible for such state of affairs ?

2. Who are the people/authorities entrusted with the job of keeping the cities clean? What is the role of general public in keeping the cities clean?

3. What are the impacts of poor waste management in cities?

4. How have cities like Mysuru, Chandigarh and Tiruchirapalli been able to maintain high levels of cleanliness? 

5. What is Swachcha Bharat Mission? Why is this program being given so much of primacy? 

6. What steps should the government and the general public take to maintain cleanliness and hygiene in cities?

7. What do you understand by waste management? What are various ways of doing it?

8. What is the average daily volume of waste generated in the city you currently reside?

9. What is Swachcha Bharat Cess? How is it collected and routed to cleanliness drives?

10. What was the stand of Gandhiji on cleanliness? How did he practice and propagate cleanliness in his life?


10 comments:

  1. 1. Do you agree that Indian cities are not clean? What makes you think so? What are the factors responsible for such state of affairs ?
    A. Indian cities are not clean as there are issues of poor air quality , water pollution, garbage issues, improper sewage treatment facilities. the following are the factors that are responsible for such sorry state of the cities in india.
    GEOGRAPHIC:
    IMMIGRATION :
    due to the seasonable employment oppurtunities in the villages there is a flux of rural migration into the cities in search of employment oppurtunities. Hence the carrying capacity of the cities are under strain which leads to the unplanned urbaninzation.
    failed public transport:
    with the exponential rise in population in cities , lack of long vision urban panning leads to congestion on roads. This inturn increases the excess use of energy resources on the roads which leads to the air pollution.
    construction sector: the debris from the collapse of buildings results in the rise of PM content in the air.
    ECONOMIC REAASONS:
    the increase in the middle class sections of the society implies the demand for the consumer goods. Hence there will be more production of goods and services which leads to the rise in the levels of waste affluents from the industries, homes, hospitals, houses etc. affluents from the factoris make their way into the rivers and streams which leads to the water pollution.
    Lack of enough sewage treamtemnt plants at the industries will exaggerate the pollution levels.
    LACK OF VISIONARY PLANNING:
    garbage issues: the inaffordable rates of land to establish solid waste management with in the cities results in the garbage piles on the roads.
    SOCIAL CAUSES:
    rise of slums:
    the exploitation of manual labour results in the less money availability due to which they were forced indirectly into slums. Here the standard of living conditions are very poor with poor sanitation facilities.
    Hence we can say that the cities are not clean.

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  2. 2. Who are the people/authorities entrusted with the job of keeping the cities clean? What is the role of general public in keeping the cities clean?
    A. POLICY FORMULATION:
    the central government is responsible in providing economic resources. 1 crore for a city upto 5 years.
    IMPLEMENTATION:
    THE RESponsiblity lies in the urban local bodies i.e. municipal corporations which are consitutional bodies entrusted with the responsibility by devolution of powers by the 74th CAA.

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  3. 3. What are the impacts of poor waste management in cities?
    A. Wastes generally occur from the houses, shops, hospitals, government organisations, IT sector, schools etc. Hence proper waste management is very much important for sustainable development. The following are the impacts of poor waste management in cities.
    ECONOMIC IMPACT: the unscientific waste management couldnot reap the benefits from the wet waste which can be used as a resource of energy production through vermi-composting etc.
    SOCIAL IMPACT:
    improper waste management leads to the contamination of air,water which impacts the health of the people.According to the GLOBAL BURDEN OF DISEASES study it is said that air pollution is the 5th biggest killer in india. an another similar report on health insurance said that the annual health insurance pay offs in 6 largest metros is 27%. these figures show that the impact of environment on society due to poor waste management of energy which can be reduced by adopting Bharat Stage VI.

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  4. 10. What was the stand of Gandhiji on cleanliness? How did he practice and propagate cleanliness in his life?
    Gandhiji said “Sanitation is more important than cleanliness”. He believed that cleanliness and sanitation were an important part of life. He encouraged everyone to be their own scavenger and not expect others to clean after their waste.
    Upon knowing of a spreading plague in Bombay Presidency, Gandhiji offered to visit every home and help improve sanitation. He stressed on the usage of two separate buckets for urine and night soil.
    Once during a Congress session in Calcutta,upon seeing the filth in the camp he took up a broom and himself cleaned the verandah which was being used as a latrine.
    Volunteers in Indian National Congress formed a bhangi squad where for the first time Brahmins worked as bhangis under the tutelage of the Mahatma.

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  5. 9. What is Swachcha Bharat Cess? How is it collected and routed to cleanliness drives?
    “Swachh Bharat is not only a programme of hygiene and cleanliness, but, at a deeper level, a programme for preventive health care and building awareness.”- Hon’ble Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his speech for Budget 2015-2016.
    According to Section 119(2) of the Finance Act, 2015, Swachh Bharat Cess is a service tax on any or all of the taxable services at the rate of two percent on the value of such services for the purposes of financing and promoting Swachh Bharat initiatives or for any other purpose relating thereto.
    It has been introduced with the intention to fund the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan which is estimated to cost around Rs. 62,000 crores.
    According to Section 119(4), the proceeds of the above named tax shall first be sent to the Consolidated Fund of India and then according to the law made by the Parliament such sums of money may be utilized for the specified purposes.

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  6. 8. What is the average daily volume of waste generated in the city you currently reside?
    Bangalore produces 1700- 2300 metric tons of garbage everyday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do you agree that Indian cities are not clean? What makes you think so? What are the factors responsible for such state of affairs ?
    I agree that Indian cities are not clean. I can see lot of littering around. There are slums which are not managed properly. There is lot of vehicular pollution. Practice of waste segregation is very low. open defecation on footpaths which indicates lack of public toilets. even if there are public toilets they are not properly maintained. During rainy season problem of water logging.
    Creation of so many public toilets requires large sum of money.
    Lack of knowledge about waste segregation and how to dispose waste.
    With increasing poverty people hardly care about cleanliness.
    Unplanned civic system.
    Throwing garbage is not culturally looked down upon.


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  8. Who are the people/authorities entrusted with the job of keeping the cities clean? What is the role of general public in keeping the cities clean?
    Reuse, recycle, Reduce.
    Segregate waste and proper disposal of waste.
    Muncipal corporations are responsible for the cleaniliness of the city which has a population of more than one lakh. 74th amendment made the provisions relating to Urban Local Governments. After the 74th Amendment was enacted there are only three categories of urban local bodies:
    Administrative structure of India
    Mahanagar nigam (municipal corporation)
    Nagar palika (municipality)
    Nagar panchayat (notified area council, city council)

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  9. What are the impacts of poor waste management in cities?
    Environmental effects
    1. Surface water contamination.
    2.Soil contamination.
    3.Pollution
    Economic
    1.Will affect tourism industry. people doesn't like to visit places which are dirty.
    2.More money will be required by the municipal corporation to manage waste.

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  10. The SBM has been launched with the objective of Eliminating open defecation, Eradication of Manual Scavenging, Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management. To effect behavioral change regarding healthy sanitation practices. Generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health.

    ReplyDelete