Nov 18, 2024 06:25 PM IST
How do we prevent the North from swimming in its own garbage? Perhaps the only viable and workable solution is to look at a public-private partnership model
A recent train ride from Delhi to Kathgodam in Uttarakhand proved quite the eye-opener for me on how the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) seems to have bypassed large swathes of North India. A passenger looking out of the window would be greeted by garbage hillocks on both sides of the tracks, strewn carelessly behind backyards of houses that look like they have seen better days themselves. In one of these dwellings, I spotted a primary school surrounded by garbage, with pigs and dogs foraging, and algae-ridden puddles — not the most salubrious environment for students to thrive. The 300-odd kilometre journey gives one a bird’s-eye view of the sorry state of affairs on this front in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
While it is unreasonable to expect a citizenry accustomed to squalor to clean up its act overnight, it should now be clear that the SBA has failed to make even a tiny dent in what one can loosely call the Indian Himalayan region and the foothills.
If the situation in neighbouring states is woeful, parts of Delhi are going through a mini-crisis on this front. A friend residing in Malka Ganj, North Delhi, for the last 30 years says that she has never felt as “repelled” by her surroundings as she is currently. On most days, she leaves her house and avoids cows, pigs, and a growing army of aggressive stray dogs to reach her school, where she has taught for the last 25 years. Garbage lies strewn all over since the animals forage for anything edible. The area has an unbearable stench and residents try to circumvent the worst patches. Her pleas to the local government representatives have yielded no results.
A comparison between Delhi to Kathgodam with a 15-hour train journey from Madgaon in Goa to Ernakulam station, traversing through Goa, Karnataka and Kerala throws up the contrast between the North and the South. One can barely spot any garbage mounds along the way. In relative terms, the South feels virtually pristine and pure.
The idea of this piece is not to berate the SBA initiative. I, like many others, count the SBA as one of the bigger successes of this government for two reasons. One, it has raised the level of consciousness and driven home the need to adopt a cleaner approach to living — be it shunning open defecation, avoiding plastic usage, better solid waste management, and so on. Two, in fits and starts, there is a perceptible change in some parts of India. Cities like Indore and Varanasi have undergone a makeover, and many who visit them exclaim about how litter-free they find them.
To better understand the North-South cleanliness divide, and to look for possible solutions, I spoke to a few senior former municipal commissioners and officials across states and will quickly summarise what I learnt for readers.
One, the numbers in the North are exploding, accounting for 43.2% of the country’s population against the South’s 19.8% (2022 estimates). More people equals more garbage generated. Municipal corporations simply don’t seem equipped to deal with this sharp population growth, be it in terms of resources, expertise or will.
Two, behavioural aspects are a challenge, too: a lower level of civic consciousness, an unwillingness to segregate at source even among the educated and apathy among those busy trying to make ends meet compounds the problem in the North.
And three, the system in several of the municipal bodies has collapsed over time due to a lack of indifferent leadership. As and when one of these local bodies appears to be functioning, it is more a result of the organisation having landed a committed individual or a set of them than efficient systems at work. With the end of the term of the individual, it is business as usual. In 2017, when I reported on this, the municipal commissioner in charge in Indore city had elevated his fight against garbage to war, and sources confirm that the officers who have followed in his footsteps have found it a tough act to emulate.
So, how do we prevent the North from swimming in its own garbage? Perhaps the only viable and workable solution is to look at a public-private partnership (PPP) model — on the lines of the more recently introduced “Adopt A Heritage” scheme — where execution lies in the private partner’s domain. If the private sector player can find a way to ensure that the segregated garbage can be used as raw material and become an integral part of a supply chain, it will be too valuable to be wasted. The private sector can also be pulled in through the corporate social responsibility route. The details of how the model can be designed to work can be fleshed out by the experts. My short point is that unless we pull in private enterprise, this feels like a lost battle. As HG Wells has pointed out, if we don’t end the war, the war will end us.
Anjuli Bhargava writes on governance, infrastructure and the social sector. The views expressed are personal
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