BMC Model May Help Cities Stay Clean

Their success as growth centres notwithstanding, most Indian cities cannot be proud of their existing state of cleanliness. Comparatively, smaller cities are doing better, as reflected in the findings of the government's Swachh Survekshan 2017 — small cities in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh emerged as the cleanest centres in the survey. Big cities have a different set of problems. Their urban expansion often leads to them getting dirtier.

Sample this.

As more and more people to Delhi suburbs such as Greater Noida, where access to public transport is still low, the number of cars on the roads rises. This is turn pollutes the city air. There is not much one can do in one's personal capacity to handle this issue. While we, as citizens, do complain and crib about the dirt and pollution around us, often not much willingness is shown from our side to keep it clean around us. We are equally responsible for making it dirty. While the proportion may be different, littering, spitting and urinating in public places are frequent practices across Indian cities, big or small. In the absence of strict laws on this, an offender can get away with such incivilities. But, not in Mumbai! A practice implemented by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation can be a model for other cities to follow to keep themselves clean.

With an aim to maintain the cleanliness of the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in July last year re-launched clean-up marshals. So far, 3.91 lakh offenders have been booked by these marshals and Rs 8.46 crore has been recovered as fine. While the fine charges ranged between Rs 200 and Rs 1,000, among the commonest offenses were spitting and littering.

“The scheme has worked well in the city. The marshals have helped spread awareness and prevent people from littering in public. They have also added to the BMC's revenue,” a BMC official told media.

Unless there are monetary implications, it might be difficult to impose civic sense upon people initially. In light, in fact, it is a good idea to impose a penalty on the offenders. Here is an example. Before the Delhi Metro declared that playing music in the trains and sitting in the coaches is a punishable offence, these were common practices. Authorities also ensured there were regular checks on offenders. By and by, the number of offenders decreased. Today, you would not find the passengers in the Delhi Metro trains engaging in these activities anymore.

The clean-city marshals can do the same in terms of instilling a civic sense into people. Other cities can effectively deal with cleanliness issues by adopting the BMC model.