Kochi has been ranked 372 in cleanliness, from among 4,000 cities that were surveyed nationwide as part of Swachh Survekshan-2020 of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The report was released on Thursday.
The city has, however, improved its position from 409 in 2019. Alappuzha at 152 and Thiruvananthapuram at 304 are in better positions.
A senior official of the Kochi Corporation said the city had to do much to live up to its name as the Queen of Arabian Sea. “A host of complex issues, especially on the cleanliness front, plague the city, which remains a horribly unplanned one. It grew phenomenally during the past two decades, but at a severe cost to the environment and waterbodies around it. Relentless dumping of garbage and encroachments on waterbodies and public spaces have to be severely dealt with,” the official said.
Despite constraints, the corporation has been trying its best to ensure scientific garbage removal, mainly through door-to-door collection. Huge amounts are also being spent on prompt ferrying of garbage to treatment sites. Still, many people continue to litter streets and haphazardly dump garbage on roads and footpaths, said Prathiba Ansari, chairperson of the corporation health standing committee.
“Awareness campaigns against dumping garbage in public spaces and waterbodies was followed by maintaining vigil, including at night, near places which had over the years become garbage dumps. Violators, including people who came in cars and dumped waste, were fined ₹2,000 and above,” she added.
Plastic waste disposal
Plastic waste is yet another issue the city is struggling to cope with, Ms. Ansari said. “The civic agency, in tandem with NGOs, had readied reusable cloth bags that people could take to supermarkets, grocery shops, and hotels. There are shops selling such bags and reasonably priced jute bags. Still, most people rely on plastic bags for purchase. They seem unmindful of their own health. Similarly, e-waste is often disposed of carelessly. All these contribute to the shoddy state of affairs,” she observed.
The lack of cleanliness at many locales, mainly low-lying areas and slums like in Mattancherry, continues to pose hygiene issues, sources said.
Both members of the public and civic agencies must play their part in ensuring cleanliness of the city, said Nithin Mathews, a Kochi resident, who completed MBA from IIM-Indore. “Plastic menace is back with a bang, probably since government agencies are focused on containing the pandemic,” he added.
Mr. Mathews spoke of how Indore, which has been given the top rank, gives the pride of place to cleanliness. “The motifs of Swatchh Bharat Abhiyaan dot public spaces in the entire city. So much so that IIM-Indore has garbage bins in three different colours, to segregate waste.”
Ajith Sojan, an entrepreneur based at Kathrikadavu in the city, spoke of how government agencies must take a proactive lead in garbage management. “They must prioritise this as an issue and do consistent follow-up. This will inculcate good habits in people. There must also be consequences for misbehaviour, in the form of punitive measures like imposing fines,” he said.