Shillong: Shillong, the Scotland of the East, and a city not too far from Asia’s cleanest village Mawlynnong, got a reality check today with a survey ranking it as one of the “dirtiest” in the country, while neighbouring Guwahati on the other hand, was ranked as one of the cleanest in eastern India, after Gangtok.
The first-ever survey on the cleanliness of cities from the perspective of tourists, commissioned by the Union tourism ministry has not only been unable to find any “filth-free” city but has also found Shillong to be among the top five “dirtiest” cities in the country.
The survey analysed six factors to arrive at the ratings: cleanliness of sewers and drainage, effectiveness of garbage collection and cleanliness of public conveniences, drinking water facilities, eateries and ambience.
Out of the maximum score of 100, Shillong scored 52, lower than Guwahati (65) and Calcutta (64).
The score clearly shows that Shillong has not been able to replicate Mawlynnong’s practices although the village is just 90km from it, located along the Indo-Bangladesh border in East Khasi Hills.
Statistics revealed that Shillong generates at least 149 tonnes of garbage daily and the Centre has listed Meghalaya as one of the “good performers” in solid waste management, The Telegraph reported.
In a recent presentation, Paul Lokho, community development specialist, Mott MacDonald, the design, supervision and management consultant appointed by the Meghalaya urban affairs department under the ADB-funded North Eastern Region Capital Cities Development and Investment Programme, said that of the 149 tonnes of garbage, municipal waste collectors recovered 126 tonnes.
He said over 20 per cent households dumped waste in rivers and streams.
Once upon a time, Shillong was indeed a clean place, if not the cleanest. But environmentalist Naba Bhattacharjee said today, “The cleanest city gets the dirtiest tag. It was coming.” Before any intervention to clean the city, mindsets should be cleansed, he added.
Apart from air and ground pollution, he said even the Umkhrah and the Umshyrpi, two rivers flowing in the heart of the city from Shillong Peak, are “highly polluted”.
“All efforts must be holistic in nature starting from the source of both rivers till both empty in the Umiam. I shall pursue both legally and technically until the issue comes to logical conclusion,” he said.
L.S. Lyngdoh, secretary of Dorbar Shnong Mawlai Mawdatbaki, said it was unfortunate that Shillong had earned the dubious distinction of being one of the dirtiest cities in India.
Neighbouring Assam, not surprisingly, basked in the glow of recognition accorded to “its Guwahati”.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi congratulated the citizens, the Kamrup (metro) district administration and Guwahati Municipal Corporation, saying more efforts would be made to make it the cleanest city in the country.
“It’s a pleasant surprise. I hope after this ‘clean’ rating, we must play our part by not littering public places,” said Rupam Barua, a resident.
However, there was some reality check as well.
Amarjyoti Kashyap, president of an NGO Environ, said, “We should keep in mind that if Guwahati is becoming cleaner because we are ruining another place – Deepor Beel – where we are dumping our garbage. Where will we dump garbage after five years? We need a proper, scientific garbage disposal system.”
Save Guwahati, Build Guwahati general secretary Kailash Sarma said that removal of political interference in implementation of various projects as well as employing persons having technical knowledge would help make the city cleaner.
Consultant engineer J.N. Khataniar said strong initiatives are necessary to make the city cleaner and greener.
GMC mayor Abir Patra said they had more plans to beautify the city.
“The city has great potential in terms of its natural resources and we need to develop them for beautification. We have undertaken a project to develop the Brahmaputra riverfront,” said Anurag Singh, GMDA chief executive officer.