Lack of civic sense pulls city down to 241st rank

KANPUR: Toothless municipal corporation, unsystematic city's development and lack of civic sense are the main reasons which have kept Kanpur Nagar out of top 100 clean cities list prepared by the ministry of urban development. The list, which was released on Saturday, has placed Kanpur at the 241st place. The survey was conducted for 476 cities under Swachch Bharat Mission.
With Kanpur failing to make place in the top 100 list of the clean cities, it is an awakening call for the district administration and the civic authorities. There is a need to launch a mass awakening campaign to garner support of the denizens in keeping their city clean.
The basis of parameters on which the survey was conducted included the extent of open defecation, solid waste management, septage management, waste water treatment, drinking water quality, surface water quality of water bodies and mortality due to water borne diseases. The fact being that Kanpur is the biggest city of the state with a population of over 45 lakh, and for managing such a big city a roadmap for cleanliness is much needed.
Reacting to the development, Chhotey Bhai Naronha, member of civic society said, "Lousy nagar nigam, lack of civic sense, horrible spitting habit at public places and almost dead drainage system are the reasons why Kanpur stands at the 241st place instead of being on top 100." He said that a lot more needs to be done to bring a change in the ranking of Kanpur otherwise its ranking may deteriorate further.
Pankaj Bhushan, environment engineer in Kanpur Municipal Corporation, was not aware about the criteria chosen to judge different cities across the country. “It will be too early to make any comment without knowing the attributes on the basis of which the rating was done", he said.
When his attention was drawn towards the half strength of sanitary workers in KMC which was affecting garbage collection and sanitary services in the city, he accepted it as a fact and added that the same situation is being faced by every municipal corporation in the state.
Laying emphasis about instilling civic sense among the Kanpurites, Bhushan said, "We clean our own courtyards but not bothered to clean the vicinity. We litter garbage on the road with a mindset that now it is duty of the KMC to clean it, forgetting the fact that till the time the garbage is not lifted it will affect everyone, including you".
But this is not the only problem with the city. If Kanpur is known for maximum production of chewable paan masala, there also exists a huge strength of people who spit on roads. The condition is pitiable in the government offices where walls have lost their colour and sheen. Their corridors and corners have become red due to the habit of spitting by the people.
Arun Bajpai, a city based nature lover said, "Nature and greenery ceases to exist where garbage piles up, people defecate on roadsides and in the open and drains overflowing on roads". Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking an initiative of creating awareness among people on the use of toilets, thousands of people still defecate in the open because of shortage of public toilets, especially in the rural areas, he said.