All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Let us Keep India Clean

It is a common observation that Indians visiting other countries strictly follow the rules regarding cleanliness and sanitation there, but the same fellows while in India forget even the common sense in this respect. When this is the case with upper strata of society, what can be said of common people? The result of this negligence regarding cleanliness and sanitation is that the streets and roads of our cities and towns are always filled with garbage / trash / waste from houses, shops, etc.

Wet waste causes the growth of bacteria and viruses and eventually helps in the spread of epidemic diseases like plague, malaria, swine flu, chikungunya, dengue etc. These diseases are quite common in most cities and towns especially during rainy season.

In 1994, pneumonia plague erupted in Surat city (Gujarat). It was horrendous and extremely hard to manage. Thousands of patients suffering from plague were admitted to the hospitals within a week. Local public got panicked of catching plague infection and started escaping out of the city to save themselves. Almost one fourth of total population of Surat moved out of the city and went to some other areas. Those who left carried the germs of plague with them and spread the disease in other parts of India. Surat, well-known as the City of Diamonds and always well populated was deserted in those days. Such a scary situation emerged due to the lack of cleanliness and knowledge of hygiene in the local public. Entire city appeared scary due to open and dirty drainage everywhere and rotten garbage stinking all around the city.

One of the major reasons of so many diseases spreading in our country is the complete lack of cleanliness. There is no proper management of garbage; most of the time it is thrown in the open on the roads and during rainy season it gets spread in the entire city due to floods. We have not changed our habits regarding cleanliness and hygiene even after 71 years of independence. We throw 90% of garbage on the roads and in the residential areas. Most of this garbage comes from the kitchen, which gets rotten very easily. We should think of making fertilizer from kitchen garbage. There should be some central facility in each area, to keep all the garbage coming from kitchen in a separate place in the city to make fertilizer. Establishing Biomethynation plant is another option to use the rotten vegetables or fruits. If we want to find the solution to these problems, we should learn from cities like Surat and Chandigarh. In last few years, these cities have developed many ways to process the garbage and utilize it for good purpose.

Surat City which faced epidemic like plague in the past is now well known for its cleanliness. Toilets are made in different parts of the city to stop people from defecating in the open. This used to be the major reason for the lack of cleanliness. There are dustbins kept in every area of the city and also pick up time for the trash removal is fixed. Due to several strict measures taken by the city administration and public support, now malaria and filaria like diseases are completely under control; and city appears to be disease free.

Other Asian countries are also great examples for keeping their country clean. Sri Lanka is very good example, from where Malaria has been extinguished now. They opened mobile malaria clinics to protect and treat people in the affected areas. They also educated local public about cleanliness and hygiene, which helped in reducing the spread of malaria in those areas. They also provided best treatment to their people infected with malaria. We can also develop such a system in our country. Though our country is much bigger in area and population is very large, still we can manage in a well-planned manner at village, tehsil, district and state levels. We can also educate people about health and hygiene, and make India a clean country.

On 2nd October 2014, India started “Clean India movement-one step towards cleanliness”. Most of the states responded well to this initiative. In 2017, about 435 cities were surveyed for cleanliness and hygiene; and 25 most clean cities were listed. Indore and Bhopal of Madhya Pradesh got first and second position, Vishakhapatnam from Andhra Pradesh was placed third, Surat from Gujarat fourth and Mysore from Karnataka was placed fifth.

Out of top fifty cities from India, 12 were from Gujarat, 11 from Madhya Pradesh and 8 from Andhra Pradesh. If other states follow suit and implement the scheme with strict discipline, India can become a clean and healthy country.