Garbage has been a problem in Goa for years. Each year seems worse than the previous one. Everywhere you go in the state, the sides of the streets are lined with all kinds of rubbish imaginable. But this year, Panaji city has impressed the bigwigs at Swachh Survekshan 2018 and even bagged an award for its good work.
Swachh Survekshan 2018
Swachh Survekshan has been happening for the last 2 years now. The whole objective of this survey is to improve urban sanitation. In doing so, large-scale citizen participation is encouraged along with creating awareness amongst all sections of society. After all, there is something very important in working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in. Additionally, the survey also intends to foster a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens, towards creating cleaner cities.
Therefore, citizen-cooperation is extremely important in this kind of endeavor. Check out the official website for more details.
Panjim bags the award for ‘Best State Capital Award for Innovation & Best Practices’
The Corporation of the City of Panjim’s innovative methods of garbage clean up has earned Panjim an award. The state capital bagged the title of ‘Best State Capital Award for Innovation & Best Practices’ in the Swachh Survekshan 2018.
“The Union ministry is happy with Panaji city especially with the innovation of using fewer resources to manage higher quantum of garbage,” said chief executive of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Pvt Ltd Swayandipta Pal Chaudhuri. This is no small feat given how much of garbage is generated in the capital of Goa.
Chaudhuri says that the innovation is the efficient system of door-to-door garbage collection in Panjim. “Panaji has been able to handle solid waste without a landfill site,” he said.
The inspiration for trying to ensure a cleaner Panjim has come from Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Pvt Ltd and CCP attempting to take cues from Indore in North India. Indore has the distinct privilege of being the cleanest city in the country. This comes from the Union Ministry for Housing & Urban Affairs and is based on a city-wise ranking which was not released until late Wednesday evening.
The Swacch Surveksan survey was conducted through two mediums. There were direct interviews with 223 locals conducted by an independent agency in Panjim and 289 inputs were given through the Swachhata App for Panaji itself.
Future plans for Goa in Swachh Survekshan
Goa still has a long way to go, though. There are plenty of areas for improvement when it comes to cleanliness in the state. The tourist season in Goa saw busloads of people coming and using the roadside as campsites. Not to forget the amount of defecation in the open.
“We have got time till October 2018 to make Goa open defecation free but it could be one of the areas where Goa missed out on getting a better rank. Somehow, Goa has not been able to meet the parameters set under the mission programme,” said minister for urban development Francis D’Souza.
Information credit – TOI
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