Do
you want BMC to do a Cleanliness Drive in your area?
If you can get 25 citizens together for a Cleanliness Drive in your
area, BMC will send equipment and workers to clean up your area.
The Drive should result not only in a clean place but also beautification.
So you should undertake to do something e.g. whitewashing the compound
walls, or planting shrubs in some of the cleaned areas to reduce vacant
spaces that invite people to throw rubbish, etc.
If you paint / whitewash private property, BMC will do the same with
the BMC property there e.g. kerbside, dividers, street furniture,
etc.
If you identify spots where those green litterbins should be put,
BMC can do that too.
The whole exercise usually takes 3 hours. Any day except Monday is
normally ok with BMC.
If you are interested, please send a detailed request incl.
- your name and contact number
- locality details -- from where to where
- a note on how unclean the situation is now
- which day of the week and time is suitable for you.
We will forward to the concerned person in BMC, and follow-up with
them.
Do send the following information
to enable BMC to effectively address your request for a
Cleanliness Drive.
1. A minimum of 25 citizens are expected
to support the Drive in the area requested for.
We not only expect names of the persons involved, but also their physical
presence at the site during the Drive. This is essential for 2 reasons:
a) to ensure that the request is representative of the needs of the
local community and is a balanced view, and not the view or request
of any individual. b) To ensure that at the time of the Drive, the
citizens undertaking it are visible as a significant number, and not
as one or two persons who may be then permanently held responsible
for that area's cleanliness. c) To ensure that the place really gets
cleaned.
2. The Cleanliness Drive is intended
to be a one-time initiative that will enable the local community to
then further keep that area clean. Hence, the beautification
plans / improvements for the area being undertaken are also to be
specified, and executed at the same time. For. e.g.: on removal of
garbage / debris from a particular spot, some measures such as planters,
or a litter-bin or a warning sign, etc needs to be put up at that
spot to ensure that garbage is not repeatedly thrown there. The citizens
are expected to take such measures which could also include white-washing
of walls, providing a security guard, etc.
3. Study the area in detail
As residents / users of that area, you are best able to assess the
priorities and needs of the area being cleaned. It is suggested that
the area being identified be sufficient in size so as to be completed
in a period of not more than 2-3 hours. (Listing an entire suburb
to be cleaned in one Drive is not feasible.) Please list and identify
the specific problems and your suggestions for the same, such
as number and location of litter bins, etc. It will also be useful
if you are able to identify which problems can be addressed by the
BMC, and which require the assistance of other Govt. agencies, such
as the Police, MMRDA, etc.
4. Site Inspection
Prior to the Cleanliness Drive, there will be a site visit by the
concerned BMC officials, to enable them to come prepared with requiste
equipment and manpower, etc. It will be be helpful if you are present
at this survey to assist in identifying the area and its problems,
and are also prepared with the points listed above.
To sum up:
1) List of 25 persons
2) Plan for beautification
3) Problems identified and solutions suggested
4) Joint site inspection
The Cleanliness Drives being undertaken by the BMC are a collaborative
effort between the BMC and citizens. The success and effectiveness
of the Drive thus depends on your cooperation and involvement.
We are trying to co-ordinate with BMC regarding this. We will try
our best.
regards
Vinay
Convenor
NGO Council
Cleanliness and SWM - two aspects
Cleanliness and SWM:
Two aspects:
- reducing the amount of waste reaching the landfill
by composting, recycling, reducing, etc.
- reducing the amount of visible waste on the
streets - by cleaning & by dealing with hawkers, pavement dwellers,
etc.
Though the general objectives of a cleanliness campaign and the
SWM programme for the city may be similar, there are some basic
differences that need to be kept in mind.
Solid Waste Managment involves the Storage, Delivery and Collection
of waste generated in the city, and its environmentally and cost
effecient disposal. The primary goal of any SWM programme should
be to address the generation of waste at source, where segregation
ensures that a greater part of that waste is rendered re-usable,
and a lesser part is then eventually received at the land-fill.
Currently, in Mumbai, because the volumes of waste generated are
very large, and the public understanding of the waste problem is
low, there are lapses in the processes of storage and collection
of waste, both from the citizens and BMCs side, with citizens unwilling
to "hold" and deliver their waste in a responsible manner,
and BMC being unable to take punitive action on such lapses. As
a result of this, a lot of waste is seen to be accumulated at various
spots, making the general environment dirty.
There is another aspect to the cleanliness of the city, and that
is linked to the levels of poverty in the city, where the city is
perceived to be dirty due to the presence of unauthorised and unregulated
users and structures (such as encroachments, beggars, squatters,
hawkers, pavement dwellers, etc) who not having access to services
such as a waste delivery system, or a sanitation system, make use
of any available space, usually public, to live, carry out their
livelihood, and even to dispose of any waste that may be generated.
It would be difficult to address this second aspect of the cleanliness
of the city in a holistic manner, without addressing the larger
issues that cause the situation, such as the existence of slums,
etc within the city.
As a general thing, poor cities and poorer neighbourhoods are dirtier,
not because their occupants like it to be that way, but more because
they have no choice, and from amongst the many things that they
struggle daily for, livelihood and shelter would take a priority
over cleanliness.
As a goal to strive for, we should work towards reducing the quantity
of waste reaching the land-fill, and encouraging responsible behavior
by all generators of waste. It may not be such a bad thing if in
a few years, Mumbai still looks a bit scruffy, but has managed to
get on top of the waste problem.
- Index
of Rules
- Complete
BMC Solid Waste Management Rules 2006
- Summary
of Rules
- Press
Release
- Cleanliness Drive
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