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Cleanliness Survey 2022: Oppn alleges scam, seeks inquiry as Lucknow slips five places
The state capital slipped five places in the latest Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey) to be ranked 17th among 45 cities, with above a million people
The state capital slipped five places in the latest Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey) to be ranked 17th among 45 cities, with above a million people. Among 100 cities across country, Lucknow is ranked a distant 52nd.
This slip has now attracted opposition criticism about the policies of the BJP-dominated Lucknow Municipal Corporation.
“An inquiry must be set up to probe into the misuse of funds by LMC officials as a hefty sum must have been paid for solid waste management. The picking and transportation of solid waste too has become costly as there has been sharp increase in fuel prices. Despite all this, Lucknow has fared poorly in the rankings,” said leader of the opposition in LMC House Sayyed Yawar Hussain Reshu.
“More than 30 agencies were engaged in supplying manpower as sanitation workers for LMC, yet the city’s cleanliness aspect is dismal. Garbage is rotting in some areas and landfill sites are unable to treat waste. There is a big scam in waste management in Lucknow,” he added.
In 2021, the LMC was ranked 12th among the country’s cleanest cities.
Lucknow however won ‘Best City for Innovation and Best Practices Award’ for adopting newer technology like ‘Lucknow One App’ and for introducing self-assessment of property software. “This is something that other cities have done already,” Reshu said.
Former special secretary urban development and former municipal commissioner of Lucknow SP Singh said, “The slide in the rankings is due to poor management and lack of leadership skills by officials. How did rankings of Ghaziabad or Meerut improve? They just followed the basics and kept working on improving the system. Here people were not able to decide whether to introduce a second company and set up a second landfill site. Such results will happen, if the authorities remain indecisive. A leader should lead from the front and take decisions. Here, no one took any decision to improve the solid waste management in the city.”
“Everyone knows about rampant corruption in the LMC’s rubbish removal department. The company enlisted for waste management kept cheating and it continued work. Is it just because it is close to some important people? There were many other companies that could be handed over the work of solid waste management. If top officials don’t take bold decisions, or are unable to check misuse of LMC’s resources, these rankings will dip further,” said former corporator Ranjeet Singh, a crusader for Gomti cleanliness.
Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia said, “I am not defending anyone. Yes, Ecogreen, the company chosen for solid waste management, disappointed. But Lucknow still has been able to remain in the top 20 cities.”
“A number of times proposals to remove Ecogreen were passed but no decision was taken at the higher level. It is clear that more needs to be done if Lucknow has to break into the top five cleanest cities of the country,” the mayor said.
“We will have to establish at least four landfill sites with waste treatment plants. There is a need to give solid waste pick up and management work to different companies in different wards,” she added.
