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Saaf Aangan (“clean
courtyard”) Scheme:
- Conceptualised
over 15 years back by eighty-year-old former Flight Lieutenant
from the Indian Air Force (IAF) Madhu Sawant, who has an NGO
called I Clean Mumbai
- In
2002, the then municipal commissioner Karun Srivastava formally
adopted Madhu Sawant’s Saaf Aangan Scheme as a workable method
to get the city of Mumbai clean, by focusing on the I-centric
attitude of the city: simply keep your backyard clean. (Ref.: BMC
circular no. MCC / B / 9185 of 2.12.2002)
- Main
features of Madhu Sawant’s original scheme:
-
a scheme to keep the area around one’s office, home or shop
clean by leasing it from the BMC on an annual basis.
-
The land could be leased from the BMC at Rs 2 a year and then
it would be the lessee's task to plant saplings and ensure that the
space stayed free of garbage, unauthorised hawkers or other
encroachments
-
The uniqueness of the concept is that anyone, even an
individual, can take the initiative.
-
Aangan means the space in front of your residence, shop or
workplace (from the boundary if any) to the centre of the road
including the footpath (if any).
To
avail the scheme, send a written application describing the location
of the area and how you plan to maintain it. For instance, keeping
flower pots, flower beds, provided they do not obstruct vehicular
traffic.
The
trees in the area must be painted in three bands: white, brown, white
(in that order).
- The
Saaf Aangan Scheme was successful in those areas with pro-active
citizen groups; however being a voluntary scheme, the efforts
undertaken, while very successful in local pockets, remained at an
incremental level and failed to make a significant impact on the
cleanliness of the entire city.
- The
main drawback was that since Saaf Aangan was a “scheme”
undertaken by citizens voluntarily, it could not be enforced as
there was no deterrent mechanism for those who ignored it. The
concept was to instil civic pride in the citizens of Mumbai, and
instead of deterrents, motivation and encouragement was used to
popularise the scheme by awarding prizes and recognition to those
who successfully implemented Saaf Aangan. While this kept the
morale of those already involved going, it failed to expand the
scheme into a wide enough movement to get the city looking
significantly cleaner.
- In
2005, under Addl. Municipal Commissioner Subrat Ratho, a group of
over 100 NGOs, citizens, experts, etc. came together to form a
“Cleanliness Group” under the aegis of the NGO Council (that
has an MoU with the MCGM) to draft a set of Rules for the
Cleanliness of the city, specifically for citizens. (Hazardous
waste, construction and demolition waste, bio-medical waste, etc.
are covered by different sets of Rules)
- Under
these Rules that were notified on March 1st 2006, it
was proposed to take Madhu Sawant’s Saaf Aangan concept, and
convert this into an enforceable Rule, so that citizens would
themselves not only refrain from littering, but also ensure that
no-one litters in their immediate surroundings. These Rules that
were framed were extremely citizen-friendly, and gave both powers
and responsibilities to those citizens who wanted to actively
engage with MCGM in assisting to keep the city clean.
- These
Rules are at: http://www.karmayog.com/cleanliness/mswrules2006.htm
where
in rule no. 4, section 4.3, it says that:
4.3.)
“Ensuring Saaf Aangan”: Every person shall ensure that any public
place in front of or adjacent to any premises owned or occupied by him
including the footpath and open drain/gutter and kerb is free of any
waste whether liquid, semi-solid or solid including sewage and waste
water and every such owner / occupier shall provide an adequate number
of litter bins on such premises.
There
is a corresponding fine for those who do not ensure Saaf Aangan:
Rule
no. 4.3
For
not maintaining Saaf Aangan: for
a) for owners / occupiers of single premises
Rs. 100
b) for others
Rs.1000
- These
Rules were drafted through an extremely transparent, interactive
and consultative process over a period of 3 months where the BMC
shared its initial Draft Rules with the NGO Council. Thereafter, a
Working Group was set up of over 100 NGO’s / organisations/
experts who were specifically interested in Cleanliness / Waste
management of the city. A series of meetings were held following
this, wherein BMC officials also participated, leading to the
preparation of a document called the 'Policy Framework
Recommendations for a Clean Mumbai”. The broad policy
recommendation outlines in this document were accepted by the BMC
and then integrated into the new Rules under formation. A
continuous process of dialogue and receiving feedback from all
stake-holders was maintained at every stage of the framing of the
Rules, leading to the final draft which was submitted to the
Group. Details of all meetings and discussions held
for the framing of these Rules is available on the BMC
website and on http://www.karmayog.com/cleanliness/bmcswm.htm
- In
Aug. 2006, the present Addl. Municipal Commissioner, Mr. R.A.
Rajeev took the Cleanliness Rules one step further and prepared to
convert them into Bye-Laws, with higher fines as a stronger
deterrent. Currently, these Rules are at a Draft Stage with MCGM
receiving feedback on it. Significantly, Mr.Rajeev has expanded
the Saaf Aangan concept even further to include hawkers: “Each
Vendor/hawker will be responsible to maintain ‘Saaf Aangan’”
– Bye Law No. 7.3.
- The
Saaf Aangan concept has great potential to transform the city into
a cleaner, better place; it uses the energies of citizens
themselves to keep their own areas clean, and more importantly, to
watch over each other to ensure that no-one else dirties that
place. This is the break-through idea: citizens themselves become
the “nuisance detectors” for the city; from MCGM’s current
300 NDs for Mumbai’s 15 million population, we have 15 million
potential NDs looking out for the 15 million population.
- Some
examples of Saaf Aangan in action:
A) Old Scheme of Madhu
Sawant
1.
The N-Dutta Marg ALM in Andheri (west) has used the concept to keep
their road free of hawkers. This road adjoining the bustling Four
Bungalows Road is lined by painted trees and has flower beds next to
the boundary walls of all the 35 residential complexes on it.
“This
road had many hawkers before we adopted it under the Saaf Aangan
scheme,” said Alexandrina Aiyar of the N-Dutta Marg ALM. “We tried
telling them to vacate, but they didn’t budge. We then approached
the BMC’s K-west ward office which introduced us to the ALM concept
and the Saaf Aangan scheme and the result is for everyone to see.”
2.
http://www.aipma.net/press/diamond.htm
Press Release On The
Occasion Of Diamond Jubilee Celebration History
Project "SAAF AANGAN"
Of late, plastics, particularly carry bags have earned bad name,
especially after last year's deluge in Mumbai on 26/7. No one is
blaming people's littering habit or BMC's bad management but in the
process plastics - particularly carry bags have become the casualty.
Many states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and some
eastern states have banned these carry bags altogether or below a
particular thickness (50 microns) and size. NGO's have played a major
role in this bad name game. Our efforts are on to overcome these
through public / NGO / Civic Awareness. However, this is going to take
some time.
In
the meanwhile, just as charity begins at Home, we have decided to take
a lead by keeping our own environment clean under the project "SAAF
AANGAN" - which will involve keeping the road in front of AIPMA
House at Andheri free of litter, garbage. This is being done with the
help of Shri Madhu Sawant - a social worker along with the staff of
BMC's ward office. Once it is successfully implemented, it would later
be extended to other areas.
B) New Saaf Aangan
under Bye-Laws
New
Saaf Aangan concept is still in “familiarisation phase” – that
was a 3 month period from March 1st 2006 to May 30th
2006. MCGM has been implementing the Rules as pilot projects in
various phases in different wards.
Contact Seema Redkar,
Officer on Special Duty for details of implementation.
-------------------------------------------------------
Articles for
Reference:
1.
Indian
Express article – with MC and Madhu Sawant – need URL – not
scanned article here
----------
2.
http://www.aipma.net/press/diamond.htm
Press
Release On The Occasion Of Diamond Jubilee Celebration History
Project
"SAAF AANGAN"
Of late, plastics, particularly carry bags have earned bad name,
especially after last year's deluge in Mumbai on 26/7. No one is
blaming people's littering habit or BMC's bad management but in the
process plastics - particularly carry bags have become the casualty.
Many states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and some
eastern states have banned these carry bags altogether or below a
particular thickness (50 microns) and size. NGO's have played a major
role in this bad name game. Our efforts are on to overcome these
through public / NGO / Civic Awareness. However, this is going to take
some time.
In
the meanwhile, just as charity begins at Home, we have decided to take
a lead by keeping our own environment clean under the project "SAAF
AANGAN" - which will involve keeping the road in front of AIPMA
House at Andheri free of litter, garbage. This is being done with the
help of Shri Madhu Sawant - a social worker along with the staff of
BMC's ward office. Once it is successfully implemented, it would later
be extended to other areas.
----------------------------------------------------------------
3.
Saaf
Aangan is mentioned 7 times in draft MCGM Bye-Laws
http://www.mcgm.gov.in/contents/news95ver2eng.pdf#search=%22saaf%20aangan%22
pg
2, 6 , 13, 15
-
defn.: aangan” means the public place in front or adjacent to
any premises extending to the kerb side and including the drain,
foothpath and kerb;
-
(4) Prohibition of
littering, and other nuisances and ensuring “Saaf Aangan” (6
categories)
-
7.3 Vendor/Hawkers
All vendors/hawkers shall keep their bio-degradable and other waste
unmixed in containers / bins at the site of vending for the collection
of any waste generated by that vending activity. It will be the
responsibility of the generator/vendor to deliver this waste duly
segregated to the ghanta-gadi of MCGM or to the nearest designated
community waste storage bin. Failure to do so will attract fines as
per the Schedule of Fines Each Vendor/hawker will be responsible to
maintain ‘Saaf Aangan’
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4.
Times
– Mulund Plus
http://www.mulundpowaiplus.com/fullStory.asp?articleID=MUP7ART9172006
The
most significant feature in the bylaws is that there is an increased
amount of fine for every offence. While segregation of garbage into
dry and wet waste will have to be implemented by every user, ensuring
`saaf aangan’ will top the list. This implies that any public place
near a premise owned or occupied by the user including the footpath or
open drain, must be free of solid or liquid waste. The bylaws have
specified that house wates should be segregated from hazardous
bio-medical wastes and disposed off seperately as per the BMC rules.
(see box)
----------------------
5.
Lone
ranger on a clean-city mission
[ 31 Dec, 2005 0052hrs IST
 TIMES
NEWS NETWORK ]
http://mobile.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1353475,curpg-1.cms
MUMBAI:
When the series of 'Clean Mumbai Green Mumbai' campaigns launched by
the BMC turned out to be damp squibs, he chalked out a plan
tailor-made for the I-centric city: simply keep your backyard clean.
For cynics, the solution sounded too myopic but not for septuagenarian
Madhu Sawant.
"Mumbaikars do not have the time or money to spare for civic
problems. I suggested that each person adopt a portion of land around
his housing society, shop or office and keep it clean.
The land could be leased from the BMC at Rs 2 a year and then it would
be the lessee's task to plant saplings and ensure that the space
stayed free of garbage, unauthorised hawkers or other
encroachments," says the former lieutenant.
When he first shot off this idea fourteen years ago, there were not
many takers. Some of the ward offices even demanded upto Rs 25,000 as
bank guarantee for volunteering to do a job that was the BMC's prime
responsibility.
But
his Saaf Aangan concept got its first seal of official recognition in
2002, when then municipal commissioner Karun Shrivastava shot off a
circular asking ward officers to clear all applications for the scheme
within seven days.
Soon his idea was realised by 150,000 children in municipal schools,
by cops in their quarters and in and around various government offices
and housing societies.
Where sheer preaching failed to work, he used the force of motivation;
he distributed certificates for cleanest police stations, civic
offices and awarding toiletries to conservancy workers whose area was
the cleanest.
"At one such prize distribution function, this particular civic
worker came up to me and said 'In my 32 years of service, this is the
first time ever that my work has got some acknowledgement'," says
Sawant.
His
organisation, aptly called I Clean Mumbai, doesn't even boast of a
treasurer; it means all the money has to be pumped in by Sawant alone.
On December 29, as Sawant celebrated his 78th birthday, he still had a
final dream to fulfil regardless of his failing health: that of
spreading his campaign among children in 1100 aided and unaided
schools.
"I have got the permission from the education secretary for this.
For the time being, Saaf Aangan is already being practised in 550 of
these schools in the western zone," he says.
-----------------
6.
You’ll
now have the footpath to yourself Arush Chopra
Monday,
April 24, 2006 21:27 IST
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1025893
Eighty-year-old
former Flight Lieutenant from the Indian Air Force (IAF) Madhu
Sawant’s years of correspondence with the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) for implementation of a citizen-friendly scheme to
stop encroachments and maintain cleanliness finally bore fruit when
Srivastava praised his idea and directed all the assistant municipal
commissioners to clear applications under Sawant’s scheme within
seven days.
Sawant
conceptualised a scheme to keep the area around one’s office, home
or shop clean by leasing it from the BMC on an annual basis.
“I
simply observed what prevented me from enjoying a walk on a pavement
meant for me. Citizens cry hoarse over the hawkers on pavements
returning to the spot barely a few hours after the demolition and
squarely blame the BMC. I thought; why not work on an idea that lets
citizens take matters in their own hands. It’s their pavement after
all,” said Sawant.
“It
does not take much. All you need is to make an application to your
local ward office and shell out Rs3 to get a right to prevent
encroachment and develop the space around your premises the way you
want,” said Sawant whose Saaf Aangan scheme has been implemented in
many suburban housing societies and all the 84 police stations in the
city.
“They
(BMC) just cannot help us every day. Every one must make a minimum
possible effort to deserve a clean environment. The hawkers unite and
even go the Supreme Court. What do we, the taxpayers, do to assert our
right to a clean environment? This is the least one can do,” said
Sawant.
The
uniqueness of the concept in comparison to the Advanced Locality
Management (ALM) and other citizen-oriented approaches is that anyone,
even an individual, can take the initiative.
“Even
a licensed paanwala can apply to the municipal ward office to get the
area around his stall on lease,” added Sawant.
What’s
Saaf Aangan?
Aangan
means the space in front of your residence, shop or workplace (from
the boundary if any) to the centre of the road including the footpath
(if any).
To
avail the scheme, send a written application describing the location
of the area and how you plan to maintain it. For instance, keeping
flower pots, flower beds, provided they do not obstruct vehicular
traffic.
The
trees in the area must be painted in three bands: white, brown, white
(in that order).
Case
in point
The
N-Dutta Marg ALM in Andheri (west) has used the concept to keep their
road free of hawkers. This road adjoining the bustling Four Bungalows
Road is lined by painted trees and has flower beds next to the
boundary walls of all the 35 residential complexes on it.
“This
road had many hawkers before we adopted it under the Saaf Aangan
scheme,” said Alexandrina Aiyar of the N-Dutta Marg ALM. “We tried
telling them to vacate, but they didn’t budge. We then approached
the BMC’s K-west ward office which introduced us to the ALM concept
and the Saaf Aangan scheme and the result is for everyone to see.”
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