SHIMLA: A dismal rank of 47 for Shimla in the list of 434 cleanest cities in India has dashed hopes of its residents hoping for a cleaner city. After attaining the 14th position in 2014, it has been a downward slide for the state capital. Its rank further dipped to 27 by 2016 according to a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan survey. But the town tops the list among 34 cities in the country with a population between 2 and 10 lakh and stands 4th in northern India. The rankings were decided on the basis of availability of toilet, sewerage connectivity, door to door garbage collection and adequate dustbins in houses.
Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar however is of the view that the ranking needs to be assessed objectively as it might be faulty. According to him, there should have been a different set of criteria for analysing the hill stations as they face different adversities and the cost of infrastructure is almost four times than in the cities in the plains. "Door to door garbage collection is arduous as vehicles cannot reach every house. Workers should be deployed in large numbers to carry out such an operation. As for the toilets in Shimla, water supply is not regular and hence supply is not consistent unlike in the plains," Panwar added.
Shimla municipal joint commissioner Prashant Sirkek argued that only 25% of the houses are connected through roads in Shimla and there are strict instructions not to construct motorable roads everywhere because they can be vulnerable to landslides and climate change.
But there is another side to it. According to a Mehli resident Naresh Kumar, despite Mehli being one one of the wards of Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC), door to door garbage collection facility is limited only to a few houses. "Nullahs, forests, hills of this city are full of filth. Public washrooms are not clean, and there is no check on sewerage pipelines, which is flowing open on roads at local bus stand and other core areas of the town. SMC should pay some attention towards these too," he added. Summer Hill resident Garima Thakur complained of indiscipline among the residents who tend to throw garbage anywhere.
