Swachh ranking welcomed but citizens want MCC to shore up its act

The inclusion of Mysuru in the ‘Super Swachh League’ of clean cities has baffled citizens including NGOs who want a reality check at the ground level before the local authorities bask in the new glory.

While Mysuru is historically known to be a planned and clean city - and was rated among the cleanest in the country in the first few editions of Swachh Survekshan – its performance has continuously declined since then. Last year, it was a dismal 27th rank in the country and raised a furore among the stakeholders.

B.S.Prashanth of Federation of Organisation and Associations of Mysuru, said that categorising Mysuru among the cleanest cities is a welcome news. “But we the citizens demand more from the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and find it not pro-active enough,” he said.

Though parts of the city appear clean, the filth and uncleared garbage greets public including tourists and hence both the MCC Commissioner and the Health Officer should be more pro-active on this issue, said Mr. Prashanth.

He urged the authorities to convene meeting with stakeholders like those in the tourism sector, hospitality sector, etc., and elicit their views on issues related to Mysuru. However, Mr. Prashanth said that MCC was stretched to its limits due to paucity of staff strength and the growing demands of the city.

R. Chandra Prakash, an academician who was with the Institute of Development Studies, University of Mysore, and articulates on issues related to the city, said that the ranking is a welcome development but should not lull the authorities into complacency. “The award should not lead us to slumber as it happened in the past when Mysuru slid from 1st rank to 27th rank,” he added.

There is a general perception that not withstanding the relative cleanliness of the city, there were issues like uncleared garbage in most residential areas apart from disposal of construction waste. Encroachment of footpaths by hawkers and street food vendors is going on unabated and the MCC has been unable to find a solution.

The NGOs have also urged the MCC to impose stiff penalty on people littering public places and throwing garbage, so as to check the menace. The stakeholders also want the local authorities to make it a habit to keep the city clean 24x7 and not during Swachh Survekshan alone.